Who knew that two total strangers would meet on the first day of moving into the dorm rooms as freshman and fall in love?

September 2018

That was Dane and Kayla. It was move-in weekend at CWU in 2018. Their parents had got them settled in and headed back home. Kayla and her roommate Alexis were in no way extroverts so decided to leave

their door open to meet people! One of their neighbors (Noah) had a group of guys in his room frequently, meaning we were constantly crossing paths.

One of his charmingly goofy friends (Dane) approached our door and introduced himself. From here on, Dane would come and play games on the floor of their dorm room and ask them to play pool in the lobby of the dorm. He would do anything to get time to hang out with Kayla. After only knowing Kayla for a few weeks, Dane went in for a kiss. Kayla quickly pulled her head back and with wide eyes exclaimed “what are you dong…?”. He realized then that Kayla was very nervous but he was patient.

October 2018

Fast forward to October: Dane asked Kayla on a date. After giving many anxious replies “no”, Kayla finally caved and agreed to a date at the local pizza restaurant; Cornerstone. Kayla had never gone on a date and was incredibly nervous. A few phone calls home to mom gave her the courage to go on this date. After the first date Dane finally landed that awkward kiss and side hug. When he left her room, he stood outside her door and silently celebrated that victory.

May 2023:

Dane proposed to Kayla in her first classroom as a teacher right before Memorial Day weekend. Kayla's nerves came out (again) and quickly tried to grab the ring before giving Dane an answer. Dane gripped that ring and reminded Kayla that she actually needed to give an answer. This was a very quick and excited “YES!”. That weekend they celebrated in Ellensburg and went back to the site of their first date; Cornerstone. While they were eating Kayla confessed that she did not hear a word Dane said after he got on his knee, so Dane repeated what he said to her on the day of the proposal. This again was a very special moment with a few more tears.

2018-2022:

Over the past five and a half years Dane and Kayla formed a very special relationship. They celebrated many victories together however also faced many challenges. They accomplish goals, supported each other and even quarantined together. They both successfully graduated from CWU cum laude with degrees in education. Kayla completed her masters degree while teaching 8 year olds full time. She is now wrapping up her second year teaching 3rd grade. Dane gave teaching high schoolers a shot for one year and decided that it wasn’t what he is supposed to do. He has now completed EMT school and is volunteer firefighting through Buckley FD.

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