Amanda: We met online via facebook. We added each other to snapchat...and then we forgot the other existed 😅

Michael: She replied to my snapchat and I asked her out to dinner.

Amanda: Buuuut I had a tight weekend between work trips and an event in Raleigh with my sister, so I wasn't feeling like getting all ready for a first date to go out for dinner. He convinced me to let him come make me dinner. So on October 19, 2019 we had our first date.

Michael: She was in her pajamas! She sat on the kitchen counter and watched me cook. I brought my own pots and pans, ingredients, and spices. Also, one of her dogs was in the cone of shame 😆. Most unique first date ever.

Amanda: And then the next day I was off again to my company's yearly meeting in San Antonio, Tx. We talked every night while I was gone that week and he was waiting for me outside my apartment when I got home so that we could make the relationship official and exclusive on 10/26/2019.

A: A couple weeks later, he met my dad, my little sister, and my little niece and nephew. Everything was going well until he called and said he might have to move back to Wisconsin because his extension in the Marines was declined and he didn't have anything lined up yet. Soooooo...I offered him my spare bedroom.

M: She kidnapped me! I moved in and within the week I had my job lined up. She finally got to have a king size bed. A few months later, she brought her small dog and cat to stay with us from her dad's house. I didn't even know they existed. We had 3 dogs and a cat then.

A: The pandemic hit in February 2020, and we moved in March. Then we moved AGAIN in May. Then we moved a final time in September 2020.

M: I bought our house and we moved. Amanda does NOT like moving. Not at ALL. She's a cupcake.

A: When I lost my dad, Mike was my rock. I couldn't have made it through with dignity and grace without his support.

A: We have had some amazing experiences together too. Our first Anniversary we went to Gatlinburg, TN. The cabin we picked was perfect. Our 2nd Anniversary we took a cruise to the bahamas, a first for both of us. Our 3rd Anniversary we were in SC for my work thing, and our 4th Anniversary we went to Branson, MO. We've been to some NFL games, lots of concerts, and even a ballet.

M: I hated the ballet 😒. The best part was the little British girl in front of us asking her mom "Where are the ballerinas mommy, are they behind the curtain?". So funny.

A: Also we celebrated our 4th Anniversary as an ENGAGED couple!

M: I popped the question at the outer banks on Ocracoke by the lighthouse. My sister forgot to turn off the speaker, so our engagement song is 1985 by Bowling for Soup 😑.

A: He did it on June 11th, 2023 during the vacation we took with his family to the OBX. I was SO surprised. I think the only people who DIDN'T know his plans were my sisters and me. Even my best friend in another state knew. I was walking along, doing my thing and nerding out talking about the history of the lighthouse. I turned around to see if they were listening and he was down on one knee. I almost fainted. It was everything.

M: I definitely wasn't tying my shoe.

A: We decided on a spring wedding because it's way too hot in NC in the summer.

M: And we chose April 13th, so sometimes the anniversary may fall on a Friday the 13th.

A: We cannot wait to celebrate with everyone! I am hoping he cries when I come down the aisle. I wanna see those tears!

M: It's not gonna happen. 😏