Ryan and Abby met the winter of 2020. Abby was finishing her first semester at MSUM and Ryan was finishing his first last semester of senior year at MSUM.

Throughout Abby's first year at MSUM, she met some amazing people through her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta. Abby's Big Sister, Morgan, introduced Ryan to Abby in October 2020 for the first time after a sorority meeting.

Ryan was living in an apartment near MSUM campus at the time with his friends Tyler and Connor. Tyler is Morgan's boyfriend.

Since Abby and Morgan spent a lot of time together, they were frequently spending time at Ryan and Tyler's apartment.

It wasn't until the new year that Abby and Ryan started spending time together and going on dates.

By March 2021, Abby had met Ryan's mom, Robi, for the first time, and Ryan had met Abby's parents, Nancy and Adam.

Then, on March 22, 2021, Ryan took Abby on a date to Kobe's, one of their favorite sushi restaurants in Fargo, and he tried to ask her to be his girlfriend. However, Ryan couldn't seem to find the right words and Abby finally had to ask the question, "Ryan, are you going to be my boyfriend, or not?". And he instantly said yes!

On July 14, 2023, Ryan was coming to Fargo to visit Abby for the weekend. That day, Abby had to work and was planning to meet Ryan and his parents, Robi and Ray, at Mezzaluna for supper. Abby got home from work and was in a big rush to get ready and find a nice outfit to wear because the restaurant is very fancy. Once Abby was ready, Ryan drove them to Lindenwood Park in Fargo because they had some extra time to kill. Going to the park was not out of the blue for Abby because Ryan had been talking about visiting the water fountain there for almost a month.
When Abby was walking around the fountain and reading the memorials, Ryan asked her to stop for a minute. When Abby turned around, there Ryan was, on one knee. Abby was so surprised. Both Ryan and Abby cant remember what was all said in that moment but Abby said YES!
After that, Ryan had a high school friend of Abbys hiding in the trees taking photos and they had a mini engagement photo shoot on the spot. Then, instead of going to Mezzaluna, Ryan took Abby back to her house where their families were waiting to congratulate them.
Once everyone had a moment to celebrate, Ryan had one more surprise for Abby. He made reservations for them to have dinner at Plaza Azteca with all of their closest friends and family that were able to join them. They had so much fun celebrating, laughing, and crying with all of their friends and family and felt so much love and support from everyone.