Hannah and Justin met in the summer of 2016 over the weekend of Lakefront Music Festival in Prior Lake, MN. Hannah's sister, Haley, was planning to go to meet all of Dan's (her BF at the time and now husband) high school friends that weekend and invited Hannah along so she "wouldn't be boring and work all summer". Hannah and Justin first locked eyes that Friday evening and Hannah immediately became interested in getting to know this college roommate of Dan's. After getting to be bus buddies on the shuttle from Lakefront Park to the parked car that Friday night, Justin may not have known it yet, but Hannah knew they would keep in touch after that weekend. Fast forward 1 month, Hannah and Justin were starting the fall semester at UND (Hannah's freshman year and Justin's senior year) and it didn't take long for the two of them to meet up again. Justin worked up the courage to ask Hannah to officially be his girlfriend on September 28, 2016. The rest of that school year, Hannah and Justin made countless memories going to hockey games, sorority social events, concerts, dinner dates, ice cream dates, and study dates. They soaked up as much time together as they could before, what they knew would be, a long period of time being in a long-distance relationship. Hannah and Justin were committed to keeping their special connection strong for the next 4 years and because of this, they would not wish the drive from Prior Lake <> Grand Forks on anyone. However, it was always worth it. Hannah and Justin could FINALLY end this period of long distance when Hannah graduated from PT school and Justin bought a house that the two of them could call home.

It was April 23, 2023 - Hannah's birthday, and the last day of their trip to Fort Lauderdale with Hannah's family. Prior to the trip, Hannah pondered the idea of Justin maybe proposing on this vacation, but by the last evening, she had come to the conclusion that it probably wasn't going to happen on this trip. Little did she know, Justin had talked to Bob (her dad) that morning while she was on a Starbucks run to snag her free birthday drink. No surprise Justin waited until the last minute, but Bob, with pleasure, gave Justin his blessing. The rest of the family remained oblivious to what Justin had in mind for that evening. That night, Hannah and Justin along with their friends went for a walk on the beach. After what Justin felt was a LONG walk, they began taking pictures, and when it was Hannah and Justin's turn to take a photo, Justin assumed a different pose than their usual... he was down on one knee! Hannah, of course, said "YES", but only after jokingly asking Justin if he had a speech prepared for her ;) Hannah and Justin were so excited to share the news with their families the rest of the evening!