Despite growing up 30 minutes away from each other, our story began 2 hours away at the University of Missouri in Columbia. At the time, 2021, we were living two blocks away from each other and had a few friends in common, which gave us the chance to meet during a fish fry and, of course, the occasional house party. However, our story didn't really begin there. We remained friends for a few years and reconnected when Cole asked Delanie to join his sand volleyball team in the summer of 2023. Cole began offering to go grab dinner before or after volleyball, to which he insisted on picking up the bill, and inviting Delanie to the Adams County Fair for the first time, all while still being "friends". The more time we spent together the more feelings began to develop and there was no stopping it. We eventually began dating in October 2023 and the love we had for each other blossomed and continues to grow each day.

In the past year, I have tried many new hobbies that Cole enjoys, one of which is snow skiing. We decided to plan a trip out to New Hampshire in February 2025 to ski with Cole's cousin Kelly and her husband Ravi. Cole and I flew into Boston, MA on Valentine's Day with plans to go to a nice dinner with Kelly and Ravi in the Seaport area of Boston. I was told in the car ride to their apartment that Kelly has wanted to go to this restaurant for a long time and the goal was to surprise her once we got there, little did I know I was the one who was going to be surprised. We arrived at their apartment, cleaned up, and caught an Uber to Seaport. The restaurant we went to was called Limani Grille and in honor of the holiday, they had a restricted menu from which we both chose the biggest lobster we have ever seen. After dinner, Kelly and Ravi showed us around the area and walked us along the boardwalk, pointing out landmarks along the way. As we got to the middle of the boardwalk, Cole asked me to take my ski coat off, to which I responded, "No, it's really cold out!" I was met with Cole's response of, "You're really going to want to take your coat off." So I did as he asked and took my coat off, setting it on the planks of the boardwalk. As I turned around, Cole was on one knee asking me to spend the rest of my life with him, followed by those four words every woman dreams of hearing, "Will you marry me?" I couldn't believe it was happening! My answer was of course, "YES!" Neither Cole nor I remember his speech fully, however we will never forget how excited we both were to say, "We're getting married!"