September 16th, 2022, UW Stout brought together a baseball player and a gymnast. As college students, our story started in a small country bar, Arena.

With encouragement from nearly everyone in the bar, and Carlie's twin sister, we exchanged phone numbers. The next day we planned to meet again, finding out about Dak's hobby as a blacksmith... right from our beginning! Dak made a Damascus knife in the back of his old college house garage. We look back on this memory together and laugh at the idea of making a knife with a girl Dak just met.

As time passed, Carlie finished up her gymnastics career as they came across Stout's local pet store and fell in love with a puppy. "Nona" named after Winona, where the 2023 gymnastics Nationals took place. The rest of our time at stout, Nona got to cheer Dak on from the stands during his last baseball season.

Two years later, the sun came up in Ely, MN, Carlie's favorite place. As we watched the sunrise, Nona by our side, Dak knelt on one knee at the end of the dock and asked the question God blesses couples with. And August 9th, 2025, WE GET MARRIED!!