Connor and Kara met on the Marquette University sailing team in 2016. Connor joined because his grandpa and dad were sailors and Kara joined she heard they were a "sailing team with a drinking problem". C & K took their first picture together at the Emma Biagoni regatta - the first race they attended together! In winter of 2018, C & K talked the night away at Commodore's, the sailing formal. Kara got home that night and gushed to her roommates about how she'd met the love of her life - the perfect man! After some online stalking, they realized he was likely in another relationship... Kara was crushed. Fast forward to April 2018 and Connor sends a message in their sailing group. His roommate was caught in the middle of a tomato exchange gone wrong at the campus grocery store - the delivery man was going to throw away a whole box when he ran into Jason. Jason and Connor had at least 50 tomatoes they needed to get rid of, and Kara is a girl who LOVES tomatoes. Kara went over to Connor's apartment that day accompanied by her good friend John. Knowing Kara was coming over, Connor was excited because he had a pretty big crush on her. But when she showed up with her friend John, Connor assumed they were together and was crushed. **Please note that neither C or K were in relationships at the assumed times. These two were just too nervous to talk to each other!

Fast forward, C & K attended with separate dates, but still made sure to find each other at Honor's Ball in 2019. "Dang! Kara looks good!" - thought Connor. Flash forward almost exactly a year, and Kara gets her first text from Connor asking how she's doing. They strike up casual conversation over Snapchat... daily... and Kara is still under the impression Connor is dating someone else. She just assumed he had graduated and was lonely in Milwaukee - reaching out to a good friend for company and conversation. Little did she know... Connor had been thinking about her since that Honor's Ball and he was now single! After a few weeks of chatting, Connor finally asked her out on a date to go cross country skiing and grab dinner. Unfortunately the first day they both had free was Valentine's Day... and awkward!! So they went out the day after - 2/15/20 and Connor convinced Kara to SKATE ski for her first try because that was "easiest". Kara does not like being bad at things and she certainly was not good at xc skiing - a testament to Connor's patience & Kara's comfortability with Connor. When they got in the car after a rather exhausting and cold first date (Kara drenched in sweat), Connor had a list of ~vegan~ restaurants ready to go and he had no idea how many points that would earn him.

C & K officially started dating in March of 2020 and were soon basically inseparable (both due to the pandemic & their shared love of adventure). This was their first picture together as a couple, taken at the "most scenic view of Wisconsin".

...and so they went off in search of better views! As a celebration of Kara's very anti-climactic pandemic graduation, C & K set off for 2-weeks of camping, backpacking and adventure in Colorado! And as you can see from the car - we had gained a Ripley-dog and Connor had gained the knowledge of Kara's chronic over-packing issues!

Kara and Connor's first backpacking trip together! They hiked the Continental Divide with baby Ripley over 2-days and Connor caught his first glacial cutthroat trout on a fly rod for dinner (Kara made her first vegan exception to give it a try)!

Ah, beautiful! Maroon Bells, where C & K both got scolded by the same elderly park ranger for different offenses within 10 minutes of each other. <3 "Oh, you two are together? How fitting." - elderly & angered park ranger.

In August of 2020, Kara got the unexpected opportunity to spend a year in Bethel, Alaska as a volunteer with the Jesuit Voluneer Corps Northwest. She was placed with the Orutsararmiut Native Council as a Natural Resource Technician (still a vegan!). She spent her first few weeks in Bethel getting to meet her new roommates, fishing and delivering fish to Elders, coordinating a moose proxy hunt, and facetiming/calling/writing letters to Connor every spare minute she had!

After 3 months apart, Connor made the trek to Alaska. C & K traveled around the Kenai Peninsula for snowy hikes, xc skiing, and sightseeing!

Back in Bethel, Kara froze in the tundra, caught her first pike manaqing (ice fishing), and volunteered in several dog sled races including the Kuskokwim 300...

...while Connor busied himself building an igloo up north at the cabin! C'mon, how impressive is this igloo!!

...50 letters and 10 gift boxes later, C & K (and Ripley!) were reunited in Utah for a month full of road trips. camping, and work remote from Salt Lake City :)

Even the Blacks made it out to visit C & K and the salt flats!

Back in Bethel, Kara survived April, a month-long blizzard, and was able to resume warm activities like fishing (smelting!) and birding. Connor clearly had a lot of influence on her with the fishing...

C'mon! Get a load of the views at Denali National Park!

The yummiest camp dinner we've ever had: fresh sockeye Connor had caught on a fly rod across the river from 2 grizzly bears earlier that day & Kara had filleted!

...and before long, Connor was in Bethel catching fish too! <3

It would be a crime to talk so much about Alaska in the summer without mentioning the constant mosquito battles. Much blood was shed berry picking in the tundra. :')

And just like that, it was time for Kara to come home <3

Since coming home to Milwaukee, C & K kept the adventures going in between full time jobs. Some of C & K's favorite things to do together are cook, garden, mountain bike, downhill & xc ski, CAMP, hike, volunteer, trail run, swim, fish, bird, stargaze, aurora chase, go tidepooling, try new breweries, drink coffee, travel, and laugh!! :')

Kayaking!

Mountain Biking!

Traveling for dance performances! This one took us to LA where Kara competed at the World of Dance!

National Park exploring at Joshua Tree!

More fishing!!

INDIA!

Sorry 1 more from India - these outfits were too beautiful!!

Teaching Ripley new tricks!

Backyard Gardening!

Travels to visit friends and hike sweet mountains!

Juneau to visit the sweetest friends :')

Skiing in our new favorite place, sweetest Juneau!!

Regular life, just as sweet as travels when these two are together :')

Even renovating Connor's duplex!

Wrapping up 2 years of travels, adventures, and just regular life together, C & K decided that nothing made more sense in the world like spending the rest of forever together. The best adventure was yet to come! <3

...and the best adventure begins!! Connor got down on one knee and asked Kara to marry him on a hike during their glamping roadtrip around the Olympic Peninsula in July of 2023. It was epic, dreamy, and best of all, Connor didn't drop the ring off the mountainside! <3

Connor even sketched their engagement spot for Kara!!

Also luckily, a couple hiked up Blue Mountain right after the proposal so we were able to capture this moment perfectly! :) Now, they turned their vacation into a celebration!!

Now check out the ring! Kara wanted a ring that reminded her of outside - trees, dirt, moss, and camping with her favorite person :)

Sunsets at the beach :)

Early morning tide pooling!

Sandollar hunting!

Since getting engaged, C & K have continued adventuring and loving each other more and more every day. Connor always takes Kara camping to celebrate her birthday weekend and keep adventure alive!

Hiking and visiting Alaska (they've gone at least 1x/year since being together).

Berry picking even mid-Alaska-wedding!

And this is how they feel about getting to celebrate their most special day in July of 2024 with all of you. **Thank you for being apart of our lives, we love all of you and can't wait to marry each other and dance the night away!