Brady and I met in a math class spring semester of our freshman year at Indiana Wesleyan University. All I remember about Brady in that class was how he was on his computer applying to different colleges. He ended up leaving Indiana Wesleyan to go to a different college, and that was that, or so we thought. 3 years later…

In June 2022, Brady randomly DM’d me on Instagram. We started talking, and very soon we both knew what we wanted. We finally officially started dating when Brady came to Iowa to meet my parents.

Our first “real” date since we started dating was hunting together. Of course, it was the perfect date for us, although it would have been better if we would had gotten anything lol.

Brady came to Iowa for Thanksgiving. It was supposed to be a surprise, but he got too excited and told me a few days before. But regardless, I was so happy.

We spent our first Christmas together at Brady’s house. And the “when’s the wedding?” questions came flooding in from his family (jokingly). But at this point, we already wanted to marry one another one day.

Brady visited me in Wisconsin for the first time. We explored the bluffs and town of La Crosse.

After the holidays, we spent a whole 68 days apart. It was rough, but we did it. And we FaceTimed ALOT. A ton of our relationship has been over text, phone calls, and FaceTiming. Lots of hours talking, lots of late night conversations, and worship sessions. It’s not always easy, but we have grown so much through this time.

After a wonderful vacation in Western New York, visiting my family, Brady and I had to say goodbye at the airport. Unbeknownst to me, after dropping me off, Brady went out to breakfast with my parents and asked them for my hand in marriage.

We, with the help of my parents, found our wedding venue. The place was perfect, and it suddenly felt so real. (And yes, we picked our venue before I had a ring. lol. I was just waiting for him to actually propose)

Thanks to lots of friends and family Brady completely surprised me and proposed. My best friend Katie played a huge role in making sure I wasn’t suspicious the whole day. Brady asked me to be his lifelong hunting partner, and of course I said YES! It was perfect in every way.

The original plan was for Brady to propose on our family trip to Colorado. But I had a strong hunch it was going to happen then, so he took me completely by surprise and proposed in May. Even though we were already engaged, we wanted epic proposal pictures (really, it was my idea). So once again, and again, Brady got down on one knee and proposed to me. Some moments were quite hysterical, like when he tried to put the ring on the wrong finger and when my brother got everyone around to clap and cheer for us. Super goofy, we know, but it was fun, and my family got to be there for a proposal in person, even if it wasn’t the real one.