In the midst of June 2020, Emily and her friends decided to spend a weekend up at the lake for a well needed break from working throughout the height of the pandemic. Around same time, Matt and his friends also decided a lake weekend was in order.

Coincidentally both thought that cool day in June was a great day to go the sandbar and join in on the sandbar festivities. Even though Emily technically never spoke to Matt at the sandbar, the two groups later met up at Matt’s family’s cabin that evening, which happened to be only a few houses down from Emily’s.

When Emily arrived, Matt offered her a memorable but entirely too salty steak and a beer. Matt’s blue eyes and sense of humor all but made up for it, and the two talked for the rest the night.

Neither had known that they had spent many of their summers merely 3 houses down from one another, yet they had never before met. Two years later, after many back and forth trips between Jefferson, WI and Chicago, Matt followed Emily to Appleton where she began graduate school.

Matt proposed a year later on a last minute camping trip to Duluth during a beautiful hike along the St. Louis River.