Meghan and I met in 9th grade. Our language arts teacher was keen on making the loudest girl and quietest boy in the class sit next to each other to balance us out. After doing this, she decided to keep those seating arrangements for the next 4 months. (Previously, the seating chart had been changing every 2 weeks). Despite the fact that Meghan insisted that true love could not exist in the Shakespeare unit, we seemed to hit it off.

A little over a year later Dan and I tested the spark from Language Arts and went out on a first date which included going on a nice walk around Lake Vadnais and playing Uno in my backyard. We were both still in denial that we might "like" each-other, but some might say we were a 'thing'. A couple of months later we officially confirmed mutual interest and Dan asked me to be his girlfriend.

Meghan and I went off to our respective colleges in the fall of 2018. Meghan became a Pioneer and I made the sensible decision to become a gopher (Ski U Mah, Go Gophs!). It seemed like it was going to be hard, but I didn't really think it would be that hard, sort of like your friend moving across town. Boy was I wrong. It was more like your friend got on a rocket and then teleported across the galaxy. Then kept going. While it was hard, we learned a lot from being long distance. We had to fight for our relationship, had to trust each other, and really learned how to communicate. I also memorized the route to Carroll University. It was during this time that Meghan and I both deepened our relationships with the Lord and came to know more fully our Catholic faith. This happened independently, then we began to share with each other. This was a true turning point in our relationship, sort of like when your friend who is halfway across the galaxy turns her rocket around and comes home. Fast forward a year, and Meghan really did come back to Minnesota, and just four houses down from where I live!

After catching on to the Wisconsin way of life and making it home, I decided to move to move back to Minnesota. Upon looking for housing I was given the opportunity to live in a SPO women's house which was exactly everything I was looking for. I got to live with 5 other women and become part of the community at the U of M that Dan talked so much about and grew so much from. I was very excited to get to be part of the same community after being apart for so long. Being together again has allowed me to get to know Dan better and given us more time to spend together.

Well, the title kinda says it all. Meghan probably got a hint I was going to propose when, for the first time in forever, I scheduled a date more than 36 hours in advance. We went to morning mass, brunch, and a walk around Lake Vadnais (which, if you remember from above, was the location of our first date). I got down on one knee to ask Meghan to marry me. She said yes and I was the happiest man in the world. We continued our walk joyously down the path, testing out new words like 'fiance' or 'lifelong legal and financial commitment'. We celebrated our engagement with our families, who were very excited for us. Our friends at the University also celebrated very well -- at one point it involved Meghan being swarmed by friends while she was holding a hammer (it's a funny story, ask her about it). We are so incredibly grateful for all of our friends and family who support us and love us.