Let's take it back to 2018, May 18th to be exact.

Their first date was set in a cute little bar in the Bucktown area of Chicago. Kaitlyn lived a few blocks away and wanted to make sure she was close to home in case this Tim character turned out to be a dud..

Kaitlyn arrived first to scout the place for the best seat, naturally. She opened a tab on her credit card and had one drink before Tim arrived to ease her nerves.

Tim arrived and they were quick to jump into conversation over a few cocktails. After a few hours, Tim asked to close the tab on his card and the waitress asked for his last name. Kaitlyn asked to close her tab as well and stated 'Cronin' as the last name on her credit card. To his shock, Tim yelled, "How did you know my last name was Cronin?" Obviously, Kaitlyn had no idea. And conversation continued over another drink chasing down their family histories generations back to determine whether or not they may be related.

Safe to say, Kaitlyn and Tim are okay knowing there's a possibility they may be 9th cousins.

After a while of dating, Tim moved into Kaitlyn's Bucktown apartment, and in February 2020 - they moved into their own apartment in downtown River North, Chicago.

One. month. prior. to COVID...

Kaitlyn and Tim survived living in a tiny one bedroom apartment through COVID and adopted their rescue dog Willis in January 2021.

All three drove out to New York with the help of their families in August 2021, where Kaitlyn, Tim and Willis now live in Long Beach, NY.

On December 4th, 2021, Tim proposed to Kaitlyn on a bent knee, on the sandy beaches of Long Beach with Willis by their side.

Together, Tim and Kaitlyn have done a fair bit of travels together, exploring southern California, Alaska, all over the Midwest, the East Coast, Mexico City, Greece, and Dubai.

They're currently preparing for the greatest adventure yet. Marriage on June 3rd, 2023.

And as for whether or not they hyphenate their last name to Cronin-Cronin....that's left to be seen.