Ryan and Amanda first swiped right on each other on Tinder on Sunday, November 25, 2018. Amanda began the conversation by commenting on the oncoming snowstorm, and Ryan (being a teacher) was hopeful that there would be a snow day. They continued messages back and forth for a couple hours before Ryan asked if Amanda would like to get a drink the following week. Amanda said yes! On Monday, December 3, Ryan and Amanda had a plan to meet at On the Rocks, a bar in Columbia, Missouri. However, when Ryan got to the bar, he saw it was unexpectedly closed. He then asked if Amanda would like to go to Addison's instead. She said yes because that restaurant was one of her favorites. They met outside Addison's for the first time, and when Amanda first saw Ryan's smile, she knew something amazing was about to happen. Drinks turned into dinner and being out far too late on a school night, but it was incredibly worth it! About two or three months later, the REAL story of how they met came to light. Ryan told Amanda they had actually messaged each other on Match.com five months before the Tinder match. He told her they sent long messages to each other, and he thought things were going well until Amanda did not respond one day. Amanda, shocked by this but remembering bits and pieces of their conversation, explained she had grown tired of Match.com and its shenanigans and just deleted the app altogether just to be rid of it. Ryan laughs about this, and Amanda apologizes profusely for leaving Ryan high and dry there for a bit. But the fact that they could match on not one, but two dating sites and have amazing conversations on both is nothing but confirmation they were meant to find each other.

On February 29, 2020 (Leap Day!), Amanda already thought she was having the best day ever! She and Ryan had been so busy and had so much going on, so they decided to take a day and do what they wanted to do. The greatness began with going to the local movie theater to see Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. After the movie, they went to Sam's Club, just to see if they needed anything. They love just walking around there! Afterwards, they went back to Amanda's apartment to hang out for a bit before going to downtown Columbia for dinner. When they first parked in the parking garage, Ryan suggested they walk around outside before deciding on a restaurant. It was such a beautiful day, and they wanted to enjoy it. They walked down Cherry Street, and Amanda was chattering on about a brunch place she wanted to try and maybe they could go next weekend and goodness knows what else. They continued to walk and Amanda continued to chatter on until Ryan stopped walking, looked at her and said, "This is where it all began." It took all of two seconds for Amanda to see everything. They were standing in the exact spot where they stood and shook hands for the first time right outside Addison's. Both her and Ryan's family came out the front doors of Addison's with their phones up, no doubt recording and photographing this moment. She looked at Ryan and said, "Oh my gosh!" He was smiling and told her beautiful and wonderful things before getting down on one knee and taking a ring box out of his pocket. He said, "Amanda, will you marry me?" and she said, "Yes! Yes! Oh my gosh, yes!" And then they were engaged! After several hugs, yays and all the smiles, everyone gathered for dinner at Addison's. It was perfection, absolute perfection.