Truth be told, Alexa and I could have been engaged a month into meeting. A phrase you hear your whole life, “when you know, you know” ran through our minds frequently. In this case, we really knew. Within a month, I found myself on a Rezin family vacation, meeting many important people in Alexa’s life for the first time. I told her I loved her that week and the race was on. Fast forward five months and I’m moving to Morris with or without a new job. Luckily I found that dream job and the planning of our engagement started.

Before I started on “Our Story” I researched a bunch of examples. All of them were super detailed in all of the quirky dates they went on and all of the exciting things that couple did before she said “yes”. Of course, Alexa and I went on plenty of dates and had all of those signature experiences a couple goes through. What stands out to me most, is how quickly Alexa became my home. The two days a week I would spend in Morris became more of a home than my place in Champaign. There was no expected timeline, no thoughts on if things were moving too fast. We decided this is what we want and every day after that, we learned everything about each other. After all, when you know, you know. Alexa and I got engaged on the Chicago River while on board a beautiful yacht (thanks Spring Brook Marine Group and MBN). It was a dream come true, quite literally something I had been dreaming of for months. We’re so happy we were surrounded by family and friends that night. And now we can not wait to celebrate the most important day of our lives with everyone!