Ah, the age old question. "So, how'd you two meet?" In the spring of 2022, Owen was home from school in Boston for spring break. His basketball career didn't afford him much time away, so this was quite unusual, but after missing Christmas whilst quarantining with Covid, he was so excited to make the trip home. Julia, on the other hand, was obliviously living life in Minnesota, blissfully unaware of the turn of events soon to take place. She had recently decided to make a change in her routine, to switch gyms, to not make friends, to focus on her single and individual life. But the Lord said LOL, and exactly two weeks later, she met Owen (at this new gym she swore not to make friends at). She was wrapping up her workout and sat down to stretch, as she does, unknowingly right next to our Mr. Owen Chose. He couldn't help but strike up a conversation. What's the worst that could happen? She shoots him down, he goes back to Boston, and it's like it never happened? Worth a shot. The conversation was easy, mostly because Owen is the easiest person to talk to, but within minutes Owen was asking for Julia’s contact information. Now, this is exactly what Julia was trying to avoid with her new burst of independence. For a moment, she considered turning him down, a very fleeting thought of “you don’t need no man!”. But like I said, it was a very fleeting moment, and she quickly acquiesced. She called her sister on the way home, and I believe her exact words were, “So, I made a mistake. I met this guy”. Owen messaged her that night to ask if she would be at the gym again tomorrow and if he could see her, and while choking out the voice of the whole “you don’t need no man” attitude, she replied “Of course”.

As promised, he found her at the gym that next day (which is only Tuesday, mind you). He asked if she had plans that night. She knew what this question meant. She knew she could say she was busy, signal disinterest. But that was yet another fleeting momentary thought (Julia has a lot of momentary thoughts), and she responded with “No, I’m free”. He claimed (lol I mean lied, but this is important) that his friends were all bailing on him for Top Golf, and he wondered if she would be interested in going with him instead. This is good, she thought. Top Golf is super casual, super chill, super not-intimate-could-just-be-friends-and-don’t-need-no-man vibes. (Julia would like to note here that her favorite part of the story, the lie referred to earlier, is that Owen’s friends weren’t bailing on him, but he needed to cancel the date he already had planned with someone else because he wanted to take Julia instead. She clearly made quite an impression). Obviously, she said yes, and he promised to pick her up. Hmm, she thought (again, for like a millisecond), should she say no because she don’t need no man and she can drive herself like the independent woman she is? Obviously not, Julia hates driving. Owen showed up to her front door, prompt as ever, with flowers in hand. And then he proceeded to accidentally meet her parents, which she really was planning to avoid, but lol oops.

Owen (a great golfer) made Julia (a terrible golfer) a bet at Top Golf. If he won, she had to go with him to meet his friends that next night. If she won, well, I don’t remember what she would’ve gotten, but clearly it doesn’t matter because she’s a terrible golfer and – spoiler alert- she didn’t win. The next day came (we’re still only on Wednesday), and sure enough, Julia went bowling with Owen and his friends. By Friday, Owen invited her to New York for his birthday in a few weeks.

And thus began, Owen & Julia.

Over the next two years, they had so many incredibly fun but incredibly challenging experiences. They travelled the world together (quite literally.. New York, Florida, England, France, Switzerland, Germany, and probably other places); they beat long distance (4,000 miles apart is TRASH); and they learned more about themselves than they bargained for. (There’s a lot more to the story here, but let’s skip to the best part).

So, on June 27th, 2024, Owen asked Julia to marry him. And she had zero idea, which is quite impressive with how many questions she asks.

Owen had been planning this for months, while Julia was, again, oblivious (seems to be a theme, doesn’t it?). At the end of March, he began mentioning to his family that he was thinking of proposing. In April, he asked Mr. Brennan’s permission to marry his daughter. And by May, pretty much everybody in the world knew but Julia.

Mid-June, Julia’s friend, Lexie, who just so happens to be a photographer, reached out to Julia about modelling for a photoshoot. Julia had done this many times before with Lexie, so she, of course, thought nothing of it. When Lexie mentioned the shoot would be June 27th, Julia was a bit bummed they would have to postpone their two-year anniversary celebration, but she was so excited (bcuz Lexie is a photography wizard, see engagement pics). About a week before the photoshoot, Julia had a dream it was going to be a surprise proposal. Call it intuition or divine intervention or maybe just a girl’s hopes and dreams, but she told Owen, thinking he would find it as ironic as she did.

Owen: What??

Julia: Yeah, wild isn’t?

Owen: Why do you think you dreamed that?

Julia: I mean I don’t know, probably just one of those passing thoughts, you know?

Owen: Yeah, but that’s super weird

Julia: I mean, not really? But no pressure, I’m not expecting a proposal, don’t worry!

Julia thought that Owen was panicking about pressure to propose. Owen was panicking that Julia had figured out he was going to propose.

On the evening of the 27th, Julia arrived downtown to meet Lexie for the “photoshoot”. Lexie really sold it here, made her walk around outside pretending to pose for photos and everything. Almost on cue, the rain picked up. Lexie casually mentioned that, as a backup plan, she had booked a “last minute studio space” across the street (but Julia doesn’t know streets and buildings because she is directionally challenged, so she mostly just followed Lexie with zero idea of where they were). They headed into the Grain Exchange Building, while still continuing to take these pretend photos. Upon walking out of the elevator, Julia attempted to keep posing, but she couldn’t help but notice all the candles by the door. Surely, they were interrupting something. She heard music. They must’ve double booked the space. Lexie was backing into the clearly-occupied space while motioning Julia to walk towards her. Julia, who has a very large fear of causing a scene and getting in trouble, panicked. She told Lexie people must be in there. Lexie, obviously, ignored Julia. Julia decided, alright I’m blaming Lexie for whatever happens, but let’s see what these candles are about…