Twelve years ago, two young students started their journey at Chico State. They moved into the dorms excited for what the future would hold. Little did they know that just down Shasta Hall, they would find the love of their lives. This is where their story begins.

Lauren and Chris met early on at Chico and instantly became friends, although Chris had a crush on Lauren from day one. During their five years (Lauren took a victory lap), they spent time together at Chris’s fraternity, different Chico parties, the Wrec center, and of course their favorite bar, Riley's. When it came to the 4th year at Chico, they were hanging out so much that Lauren started questioning herself thinking she might like Chris more than a friend. This is when Lauren decided to make the first move and simply told Chris at one of his fraternity parties how she felt, and Chris was instantly all in! Lauren invited Chris to take a drive up to Butte Meadows in her old 1995 Honda Accord to play in the snow. This was their first date together. When they drove up there, Lauren ended up getting herself stuck in a ditch where Chris had to push her out. They laughed at the whole situation and this is where Lauren quickly learned how well Chris knew cars. They quickly fell for each other, never wanting to spend a minute apart. Chris finally asked Lauren, the night before Valentine’s Day, to be his girlfriend.

Although they loved each other, they had their ups and downs as they both were trying to navigate graduating college, starting new careers, moving in together for the first time in Chris’s parents’ house, to then getting their first apartment together, adopting their first fur baby, Simba, and traveling to new places. At the end of 2019, they decided to part ways and work on themselves. During this time apart, Chris never stopped loving Lauren and decided to win her back. After a few months, they reconnected and started going on dates, realizing they both loved the people they had become while they were separated and were ready to be together again. They now look back and call this part of their relationship a “hiccup.”

Ever since then, their relationship blossomed into a beautiful love story that is full of adventure, laughs, endless travel, weekends with friends and family, and most importantly, love! At the end of 2023, they adopted their second fur baby, Otto, into their family.

Finally, Chris decided to ask Lauren to marry him during Memorial Day weekend at a beautiful winery surrounded by a few of her closest friends & family. He surprised her with a trip out to the vineyard (which is very tough to do since Lauren is the biggest planner) and took her on a cute little walk down to a pond where he decided to get down on one knee. Lauren was overjoyed and yelled, 'YES!' These two lovebirds celebrated their engagement this year in Italy, and now they are ready to celebrate their wedding with their friends and family in October! Thanks for following along… see you all soon! :)