But it is safe to say...

Brian and I first met in early 2016 at Plante Moran. I recently started working in the audit practice in the firm’s Chicago office. Brian was (is) known for taking walks around the office and stopping to talk to co-workers along the way (Brian - it's called 'internal networking' ok...). On one of these strolls, Brian came by my desk and introduced himself. I was a new face in the office, so the friendly welcome and small talk conversations were nothing unusual and happened dozens of other times. I realized I was scheduled on an upcoming audit engagement with Brian. It was an insurance client in mid—March. Though the audit was *kind of a mess (Brian - *worst job ever), I enjoyed my time on the engagement and Brian and I shared a lot of small talk to break up the long hours we were working.

We worked on a couple of other projects that spring (Brian - false, there were no other jobs that spring!). Brian’s story without a doubt mentions something about a random instant message he received from me in April (Brian - compleeeetly out of the blue). My message came towards the end of the workday and simply said something like, ‘hey, what’s up’. (Brian - there was motive behind this message!) I was truly just trying to be friendly, in an effort to build relationships at the firm (Brian - she was fishin', and I was the fish). Little did I know this random, very vanilla (Brian - mhmm) message would spark Brian’s attention like it did. By summertime, I again had other engagements on my schedule with Brian. This is another area of divergence in our story. According to Brian, he did not specifically request me to be scheduled on any of these jobs...he says he was given three options by his manager and that based on ‘previous experience’, he chose me (Brian - it was purely about job metrics and the best staff available to achieve results!). I’ll let you be the judge of that. None the less, I was eager to see what the summer had in store. We started talking and texting a lot more and Brian always had me laughing – even if it was awkwardly into my computer screen because of a funny message he sent. After a few work happy-hours and other group gatherings, Brian finally asked me on a date though, I’m not sure either of us called it that at the time (Brian - I mean... I did). We went to get beers and pizza at Homeslice in Lincoln Park after work one July evening. I wasn’t sure where our relationship was leading, but we had so much in common and enjoyed each other’s company. We went on several other dates that summer, which included one of my favorites, the Windy City Smokeout, a country music and BBQ summer festival in Chicago, before really defining our relationship – which did ultimately include a conversation with HR (ahem* independence issue for a couple of CPA’s), though not at all unusual as it is a very common occurrence in our industry.

Over the next few years, Brian became my best friend, my confidant, and the person I always wanted to talk to (Brian - ditto). There was never a dull moment between us, and we made even the mundane things fun, like waiting in line for a salad at lunchtime at the office or sitting in the car wash. We explored so many new cities together and welcomed the changes that each season brought (even when that season was busy season!) I got to know Brian’s family, especially at family get togethers at Brian’s parents lake house in Michigan, and he got to know mine through holidays in Ohio, and trips to Georgia. It became clear to me that what we had was special.

The day we got engaged started out like any other Saturday (Brian - It wasn't...). It was Brian’s birthday earlier that week, so the plan was to head to a friend’s house to watch football and celebrate. When Brian sent a text that morning that started with “Ok - here is my Saturday birthday schedule proposal”, it could have blown his cover, but Brian went for it and, again, I thought nothing of it (Brian - that was goooood).

We went on a walk in Lincoln Park, as we had done many times that year (see: COVID), before we were to head to our friend’s house. We stopped at Starbucks before heading on our walk (Brian - not part of the plan! She was supposed to be hands free!). Brian convinced me to do my hair and makeup under the guise that we would want to be ready to head to our friend’s house (Brian - I tried to get her to wear a nice outfit but that didn't work as she "didn't want to smell like park" for later. She even asked why I was "so dressed up" and why I was wearing my peacoat - which had the ring pre-planted in the pocket). For those of you not familiar with Lincoln Park, there is a well-known wooden pavilion commonly referred to as the Honeycomb. It's a very popular spot for pictures, events, gatherings, weekend yoga, and of course, proposals! Brian and I meandered our way (Brian - she literally wanted to go in any direction other than where I was trying to get her to go, very stubborn!) through the trails of the park and eventually under the Honeycomb. Brian led me to the middle of the Honeycomb, where I immediately felt like we were blocking the flow of traffic and suggested we move out of the way. News flash: we didn’t move. It was a bit of a blur for both of us after that, but I know some thoughtful words were exchanged before Brian, as he later called it, ‘bent the knee’. When it finally hit me, I was in total shock and awe. It was a chilly morning so my initial ‘Yes!’ got muffled by my scarf (Brian - I told her she had to say something!). I was elated! Latte still in hand! I later learned Brian had planted my friend Courtney nearby in the trees to capture photos of the moment. Like I mentioned, the Honeycomb is a super popular location for photos, so, after the knee drop, we heard the dad of a family getting pictures taken yell to their photographer, “Hey! Stop taking pictures of us and take pictures of them!”. Shoutout to Alex Rathbun for being so sweet and snapping a handful of pictures of us in the moment and after. Between Courtney and Alex, we have the moment captured from all angles.

After telling our family and friends (most of who already knew…duh), the celebration continued at a restaurant in the suburbs, and an after party for the books at my parents’ house in Naperville. Shoutout to Vai’s restaurant, and shoutout to GGG for the amazing, celebratory, and later autographed, bottle of Poggio Antico. It was such a magical day and one that Brian and I will never forget.

We are beyond thankful for the unwavering support and continued love from our family and friends throughout our journey so far, and we cannot wait to start the rest of our lives together. Let’s celebrate – see you in September!

XO

Team AB