Our Story

By Ethan Steiger

Our story began on a work trip in 2018 that I was on with a Sales Rep, Alan Vering, whose family was close with Dani. Alan and I were traveling down highway 20 chewing the fat when Vering said something to the effect of, “Do you like girls?” If so, I think I have someone in mind for you. I said, “Of course I do Vering.” In typical 21st century fashion I followed up with “let me see a picture of her.” He showed me a picture of Dani, and I was blown away. I said something to the effect of, “WOW, she’s beautiful; sign me up. Let’s get this dating thing rolling.” Vering followed up with, “Well, now let’s not put the cart before the horse. She’s never seen or heard of you, send me a picture of you, and I’ll see what I can do.” I sent him a picture of me that happened to be a about 2 years old. I was looking rather sharp and fit at that time (I wasn’t). Vering audibly laughed out load and said, “I am not sending that. Send something recent.” As a guy, I didn’t have a collection of recent pictures that were all that great. I found something that fit the bill after some scrolling through my images. Vering sent the picture over to Dani and said something along the lines of, “Would you be interested in meeting this guy I work with? His name is Ethan; he is kinda “rapey” looking but has a great personality.” Thanks for being a great wing man, Alan, you crushed it. Obviously, the answer from Dani was a hard NO. (No shocker on my end when I found out what was said.) This did spur me to take a hard look at myself and begin to better myself from many different perspectives (including looking less rapey).

Fast forward about 18 months and I get a match on Hinge. It’s a girl named Dani from Waverly. I scroll back through the pictures, and I knew I knew this girl, but how? It took me a second and then it clicked. This was the girl Vering tried to set me up with and failed miserably. So, we have a second chance. We begin messaging. After a bit of small talk and words of flattery I ask her out on a date but then the messages go cold. As a guy who is used to being ghosted, I pick my pride up off the floor, dust it off, and continue with my work and life in Waterloo/Asia. I remember talking to Alan a bit about Dani after the match on Hinge and saying, “You know I thought I was doing all the right things then boom she just stopped talking to me.” He said, “She’s a bit skittish, and you probably laid it on a little too thick.” I did I always do – I’m not a half in half out kind of guy. It’s all or nothing. We end up unmatching after some more time passes.

The above is really all prelude to the real story of how we started actually dating. I’ll set the scene: The year is 2021, everyone is begging to go outside, most are still working from home, places are still set at half capacity, and singles are still swiping like crazy trying to find new folks to hangout with. I wasn’t unlike the rest. I was on a dating app or two trying to find the Mrs. or the miss right now. Moving on… we are on Hinge again and match for a second time as fate would have it. I opened the conversation with something like, “Third time’s the charm, right? I think for the sake of Alan we should go out on a date just to say we did. I think he would feel better about his match making skills.” Dani said, “LOL, I guess we probably should.” Our first date was June 27, 2021, at the BrassTap in Cedar Falls. We met there, had a couple of beers, and shared a meal. I felt something different from that date forward. We began texting more frequently; I could feel a second date was on the horizon. We had a coffee date on the Hill in Cedar Falls. Two hours passed as we sat in the front of the coffee shop and talked about life, our goals, and what we want in this world. I was shocked by how aligned we were. I wanted more and more of this girl. It was like an itch that couldn’t be scratched. In the day of guys and girls having a roster to their liking, I removed my roster and only had one player, Dani. I believe Dani may have done the same. I didn’t care either way, I was going to win this girl over (or wear her down until I was the only one left). Some could say both of those happened.

We had a weird third date where Dani had asked if I was open to riding down to the Iowa/Missouri border to look at a jet ski. Without a second thought I was in. I figured she asked because she knew I had a truck. I didn’t care. To my surprise she showed up in her dad’s F150. She drove down, and I was introduced to Boomer, which was not love at first sight. (I am bit more of a cat person than a dog person) He continuously tried to bring himself into the front seat and sit with me. I was not having it. We made it down to the river and test drove the old Sea-Doo. Dani hit a tree under the water followed by the trailer when trying to load it. We had no choice but to buy it really. I did some negotiations with the guy (I think that impressed her… probably not, but I don’t know. Sales are fun). We got the ski, and I drove home (sorry Brad).

Our fourth date was pivotal. We went golfing. Dani kicked my ass, like beat the hell out of me on my home course, Irv Warren. I’m not going to lie; I didn’t mind getting beat. I was in awe of her play. Which, if any of you who know me know how competitive I am, this should shock you. We shared a few cold ones and talked more and more getting to know our innerworkings.

Many of you reading this are probably like wrap it up buddy but I’m not going to go into specifics of each date we went on –just the important ones.

Fast forward to winter of 2022, Dani invited me out to go snowmobiling with the crew. I love anything with a motor and goes fast. I remember riding the first day and feeling like I got my ass kicked. I remember watching her absolutely fly through woods and thinking holy smokes this lady can ride. It was on this trip that I would say I fell in love with her. It was our last day of riding; my sled had been injured and I was riding 2-up with Dani on our way back to the cabin. She was riding like someone was chasing her. I was giggling on the back like a schoolgirl having the time of my life. The next morning Dani woke up with a head cold and slept most of the ride home, leaving Brad and I to get to know each other a whole lot better. It was a great ride home. There’s nothing like getting grilled for 6.5 hours by your girlfriend’s dad.

Throughout the winter of 2022, Dani helped me peel yards upon yards of wallpaper out of my Waterloo home on Woodstock. We took that house down to the bare walls, repainted, renovated the basement, removed all the carpet, painted trim, and changed all lights and switches in a winters time. These were fun/dreadful nights and weekends of work, but we didn’t care. We loved spending time with each other. I wanted her to move in and make this home our home. We went back and forth on the idea, and it was determined that Waverly would be the place for us to call home as I travel a lot and her life is in this town. We purchased our home in Waverly in April of 2022. Boomer has a yard to play in, a park to frolic, and we have more rooms than we know what to do with (so come visit us friends and family). We have been doing more home projects (I could have sworn we purchased a move in ready house. I guess the joke is on me). It’s this house that we will call home for the long term, so we are making everything to our specification like a theater and bar in the basement. Also included is Dani’s upstairs office and my prison cell of an office in the basement.

We now spend all major holidays with each other’s families. We spend summers on the water enjoying our spot in Clear Lake when we don’t have a wedding to attend. Boomer is now loved by all. He’s become a lake dog and a camping dog. We have built a beautiful life together but there was still one thing that needed to be done… I needed to ask for her hand in marriage. I took Brad out for lunch to get his approval to which he replied, “I mean I can say yes, but that doesn’t mean she is going to.” We both had a good laugh at that and still do to this day.

I asked for Dani’s hand in marriage on June 7, 2023, on a beach in Aruba while we were down there for a sales meeting (romantic I know). I had a bit of speech lined up in my head but all I could muster was, “Dani, I love you, will you marry me,” as I got down on a knee (I did a long lunge (because if you’re going to get down on a knee you might as well also get a stretch in). She responded to the question with, “Does a bear shit in the woods?” Not the yes I was expecting, but the yes that’s on brand for us. And as they say, the rest is history.