The night it all started! I went to Elko Speedway with my friend Mike to watch the races. After the races were over, Mike and I went down into the pits to talk with the drivers. One of those drivers was Matt. During the time we were at Matt's pit slab, I could not take my eyes off of him.. I thought he was SO attractive. Before we left, I knew I needed to shoot my shot and tell Matt I thought he was attractive. I mustered up the courage and walked over to Matt and said "Before I leave, I have to tell you, you are one very attractive man". He replied with "Huh?" and I again told him I thought he was attractive. He then responded with "likewise". After this brief awkward moment, he asked me if I wanted to sit in his race car and I of course said yes. He helped me in and out of his car and soon after Mike and I said our goodbyes to Matt and went and talked with other drivers... I could not get Matt out of my head (Matt couldn't get me out of his head and talked about me his entire way home with his brother)! When Mike and I were leaving the track, I decided to find Matt on Facebook and send him a message. After a couple of exchanges on messenger, Matt FINALLY sent me his cell number and told me to text him sometime soon if I wanted to. We were in constant communication from that day on.

One of our first pictures together!! This picture was taken on our 3rd or 4th date. For our first date, I met Matt in the parking lot of Burger King in Shakopee and we went driving around town just talking to each other. We then decided to get a bite to eat at Paublo's Mexican restaurant in downtown Shakopee. After dinner, we took a walk across the street to Huber Park where we shared our first kiss (this is also where we will say "I do")! Many of our dates from then on consisted of long car rides and stopping somewhere to get a bite to eat. We still love our late-night drives together!

Matt won a race!! I ended up going back to the track with Mike to watch Matt race.... and that night Matt won! I was still a secret at this time, but people started asking questions... People would ask Matt "Who is that blonde chick in your victory lane photo?" or "Who was that blonde chick that was talking to you?"

Matt drove down to Winona to watch me graduate from college! This was also the day he got to meet my parents! :)

The Daytona 500 party! This was the first time Matt brought me around many of his friends! It was a great time and Matt even won some money!

Our first long road trip together! We drove from Minnesota to North Carolina to enjoy the first Howard Family Vacation! It was a blast!

Kaukauna trip! Since we had such a blast on our road trip to North Carolina together, we decided to go on another trip shortly after returning home! In this photo, we are on our way to the Wisconsin International Speedway to watch the Dixieland 250 race. This was the first time Matt and I traveled to go spectate a race together.

Our first Christmas in our house! (We moved into our first home together a few weeks before this photo was taken!)

The engagement!! After making his way to victory lane, Matt got out of his race car and quickly got down on one knee, and asked me to marry him. I was SHOCKED!! I was beginning to wonder if this day would ever come and I was sure glad it did! It was an AMAZING day!