Garth Natwick and Ashtony Sanders first met online in 2021 and fast became chatroom friends, joining voice and video calls to discuss politics, culture, religion, and video games. Though Ashtony lived in Maryland, she had been born and raised in the Minneapolis area, so she has relatives and connections in Garth's area.

After numerous groups calls over a year's time, Garth and Ashtony first met in person in Minnesota (August '22), enjoying a day of pizza, beer, ice cream, and a bit of night-hiking.

For a time, their friendship continued long-distance until a fateful group-meetup with mutual friends. Garth and Ashtony arranged to meet in New Glarus, Wisconsin for the local Oktoberfest celebration. There, in a private aside, Garth first asked Ashtony if she would be willing to date.

Because Ashtony's job remained in Maryland, dating would have to be long-distance for the time being. It was September of '22, and over the next year, Garth and Ashtony regularly called and spent time remotely enjoying various media together.

Trips were arranged to meet each other's family. Ashtony flew to Minnesota in January '23, and Garth made a similar trip to Maryland in March. By the summer, they agreed that to progress, someone would have to move.

Ashtony chose to uproot her job and living situation to move to Minnesota. There, she got a new job and stayed with family.

After many more weekends together--trips, events, experiences, conversations--Garth and Ashtony closed the school year by discussing engagement.

Garth privately proposed marriage in his childhood home in Woodbury, Minnesota on Sunday, April 28th, 2024.