Matthew and Karlee met while working at Camp Pondo in Running Springs, CA in the summer of 2017. During training at the Giant Swing, they were sitting next to each other, unaware of what the future held for the two of them. Matthew picked up a rock and showed Karlee. Look at this cool rock! is the very first thing Matthew ever said to Karlee.
That summer, Matthew and Karlee grew closer as friends. Camp rules dictated that nothing romantic could happen. So nothing did. Matthew went back to Florida at the end of the summer. They remained friends.
Flash forward to July 5th, 2019 when Karlee received a text message asking for her address. Matthew said he had never written a letter before and wanted to start, so he thought of Karlee when he was trying to figure out who to write to. Matthew and Karlee exchanged letters for months (although Karlee was terrible at replying in a timely matter).
In October 2019, Karlee flew to Panama City Beach, Florida to visit her friend Amanda. She invited Matthew to see Zombieland 2 with the two girls. That night, Matthew and Karlee confessed their feelings for one another. They officially started dating on Karlee's 22nd birthday, October 21, 2019.
On June 29th, 2020, Karlee, Matthew, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith drove up to Camp Pondo to get away from the California heat, recreate a family photo at the big chair, and hike. Matthew told Karlee he wanted to get a new rock from the Giant Swing. He had Karlee join him while her parents stayed down setting up the tripod for the photo. Karlee was looking for a rock when Matthew said, Look a this cool rock I found!. Karlee turned around to see Matthew on one knee, holding up the coolest rock Karlee has ever seen.