She was taking piano lessons from his grandma, Lorraine, while he was hanging out, watching TV, waiting for his mom to pick him up after school. When Lauren was being graded on a piano piece, Lorraine would call in Ross to sit and listen. Lauren was always a nervous wreck when she had to play in front of Ross, no matter how well she knew the piece. Then, Lauren transferred to Iroquois West in the 4th grade, and they grew up together in the same circle of friends.

Ross and Lauren were always good friends growing up, but they never dated during their school-age years, and college saw them in different cities— Lauren attended ISU in Bloomington, while Ross attended U of I in Champaign. After college, Lauren went north to Chicago to teach, and Ross remained in Champaign to start his career in construction, as they continued on with their lives.

Years later, when both were attending a mutual friend's party, they reconnected, and the spark ignited! Not long after, they started dating long distance, seeing each other every other weekend as they traded driving between Champaign and Chicago. Luckily, their dogs, Leela and Bailey, hit it off too; otherwise, there may have been problems 😁. After a couple of years of dating long distance, they realized they couldn't stay apart, so Lauren sold her condo in Logan Square and moved in with Ross on his 5 acres at the edge of Urbana, trading city life for woods and wildlife.

After growing together for a few years, they knew this was it! Ross pictured them getting engaged during a romantic weekend in Chicago, but after a few failed attempts, things weren't going his way. Finally, as they were about to leave the city, Ross got his chance and popped the question on the London House rooftop in Chicago, after a fun and memorable weekend…and Lauren said YES!