As Justin and I look back on how we met each other, I was the basketball book girl he would sit behind in the stands and pay attention to when he would go to his little brother's basketball games. Justin was the guy in the stands I would see at these games and often times wonder what if.

In April of 2018, friends who knew both of us gave us each other's phone numbers. After a couple of days, Justin made the first move and sent the first text message. We talked over text message for a couple of days and then went on our first date. For our first date, on April 18, 2018, we met up and went to the Boiler Room. After introducing himself with a side hug and an easy four hour conversation, we have been happily together ever since.

In November of 2020, little to my knowledge, Justin made a phone call to my mom and dad asking for their blessing to get married to their daughter. With a welcoming yes, Justin began planning on how he was going to ask the all important question. Justin wanted the day to be a day I would not forget, so he thought of the one place that had a lot of meaning to me and that was home. My dad likes to make welcoming signs and messages to hang on his pole building facing the interstate and Justin knew how much I talked about the different signs, so he called up my dad a couple of days before our family Christmas and asked for a small corner of the pole building to make a small sign. My dad let him know he would come up with something. The two of them worked together and came up with a plan as to how and when the sign would get hung. Dad mentioned it could not get put up to far ahead of when he would ask otherwise his surprise may have be leaked out as those signs bring up a lot of conversations from many who pass by on the interstate. Justin also did not want to take away from the big family Christmas.

On December 19, 2020, we went out to the farm and had our family Christmas in the morning. After dinner, Dad and Nicholas "went out to measure the the pole building to see if a camper would fit in there with all the farm equipment" and Justin tagged along to go outside. After they came back in dad asked if I had seen his new set up of Christmas lights on the pole building (this was something he had mentioned to me that he was doing at the end of November before he helped plan the engagement sign). I said no I had not, so Justin asked if I wanted to go out and check them out. We went out there and I come around the corner of the pole building and saw dad had wrote something new, but was checking out the other lights first. I took a couple of steps more and read the sign. I read the sign a couple of more times just to make sure I was reading the sign correctly and turned around to find Justin down on one knee with an open ring box in his hand. I was surprised and speechless (to which Justin said is the first time that has ever happened). He looked at me and said do you want to marry me and of course I very happily said yes!

Thank you to Sarah Pohl for capturing these moments for us after the engagement!

Thanks also to Keith Pohl for the pictures of the pole building!