Kody and I met a little over 5 years ago in college. He was in a fraternity, and I was in a sorority, and after the first time we met it was like there was an invisible string that had developed between us. We didn't know each other well, and yet, somehow we kept finding ourselves at the same events or parties, and every opportunity there was to be had we ended up talking to each other and keeping one another company. It's crazy, how in a room full of people you actually know well, one person you don't know well suddenly begins to feel as if you'd known them your whole life. Our invisible string started to become shorter and shorter, and eventually we became inseparable.

Kody asked me to be his girlfriend on June 8, 2018 (best friends day). A lot has happened in that time, so allow me to fill you in quickly:

Year One: 2018-2019

*Fell in love head first.

*Unofficially moved in together and shared a bedroom in a frat house.

*Worked at Red Lobster as servers together.

*Lost Kody's brother. Grieved hard. Continued to grieve hard, to put it lightly. Started living in a different reality.

*Officially moved into our first apartment together.

Year Two: 2019-2020

*Enjoyed pre-marital domestic bliss.

*Traveled together.

*Built blanket forts.

*Fell in love harder.

Year Three: 2020-2021

*Enter the ✨pandemic era✨

*Lost Grace's dad. Grieved hard. Continued to grieve hard, to put it lightly. Started living in an even further altered reality.

*Moved into our first house in Kansas City.

*Fell in love harder.

Year Four: 2021-2022

*Had a baby. I mean, adopted a puppy.

*Started hosting occasional holidays.

*Traveled together.

*Raised said baby. I mean puppy.

*Fell in love harder.

Year Five: 2022-2023

*Continued to enjoy pre-marital domestic bliss.

*Traveled Europe. Got engaged at the top of a mountain in Switzerland. Became filled with infinite butterflies.

*Moved to Overland Park.

*Continued to raise child. I mean dog.

*Planned a wedding.

*Fell in love all over again, harder than ever.

And so, here we are. Together, between our laughter and fun and silliness and genuine friendship, Kody and I have experienced grief, global pandemic, college, crappy jobs, and flooded apartments. We have struggled together, and grown up together, and through times where life has felt like running an upward hill, we have been there as one another’s therapists, doctors, playmates and cheerleaders. This love has brought sunshine to our cloudiest days, and through all the storms we have endured, I can still say I’ve never had more fun in my life, never felt more understood in my life, and never felt more loved in my life. There is no person I would rather share this love with, a love that people spend lifetimes searching for and sometimes never find, for forever. We will step forward into marriage together, hand-in-hand, ready to embrace whatever it is life may throw at us. I don't know what that may be - all I know is I want to face it together.

-G