Lauryn's Side of the Story:

Our freshman year of college in 2020, during Covid, my mom posted in the Facebook parents group hoping to get a group of MDB freshman together so that I could make friends, since band and life was kind of crazy then and meeting new people during covid was kind of a stretch to do. Not many people replied, but Daniels mom said he should reach out. Funnily enough I didn't actually message him or respond to anything from him for a while. Eventually I did, I don't even remember why I accepted that request, but it helped me find my future husband so I think it was a pretty good decision.

After I accepted his request, we started talking, more so making a new friend than anything, and eventually he asked if wanted to meet In person. Scared to go meet a guy I had only met via snapchat messages I took my sister with me and we sat and talked for a while at the Ferguson center on campus. From there we met up again and went to the quad, and this is where he asked me if I wanted to go on a date with him. My response was literally "I guess so." which he took and ran with and that is how we ended up on our first date going to Olive Garden, and then to try and watch a Star Wars movie in the trunk of his car at the top of the parking deck that looked over to the stadium, only to not have service and have to go to his dorm instead.

We got to know each other better and better and eventually made it to one year of dating and then two years etc. in November of 2023, right before thanksgiving he popped the question asking me to marry him and I of course said yes. I am excited that I get to marry him and to see where our lives lead to. He has stuck with me through my undergraduate degree and my stressing about graduate school applications as well as me then stressing about getting into graduate school after the fact when the applications were submitted. That worked in my favor and I did get into graduate school and will be done with my B.S masters in Speech Language Pathology in 2026. I have been there for him as well when he did a full reconsider of what he wanted to do and decided criminal justice was not for him, and I am so proud of how well he succeeded in culinary school and what he has accomplished so far. I cannot wait to Marry him and I know we will succeed in life as long as we have each other!

Daniels' side of the story:

It all starts the spring of our freshman year of college. I am at home for spring break and my mom asks me to reach out to someone from the band parents page on Facebook. I did not have many friends at the time, basically my roommate and a couple others on campus, so I said why not. I had no idea that this one decision would be the best choice I ever made. After a few days of not hearing from her, I basically gave up on this whole thing. Until, a message back appeared in my notifications. I was so excited to make a new friend and it was going well! I finally asked her to meet in person since the only thing I had seen of her was little corners of her face on snapchat. She said yes and then we met up in person. Her sister was there the first time which i can not blame her for, new person she has never met that's a guy, wouldn't want to go alone either if it was me. After I saw her I was instantly captivated, she was absolutely beautiful.

It was a great first time meeting her, so I of course asked to hang out again with her. She said yes and then this is where I knew I had to make my move. So I did just that, and when she said I guess so, I had never felt better. Our first date went great and i treated her to Olive Garden and then had the best night planned. She and I love Star Wars, so what better way to finish the date than by watching Star Wars under the stars. The only thing that made that night not perfect, was faulty internet connections. Nonetheless, we persevered and watched the movie in my dorm room, which was on the top floor so I guess that is close enough to the stars.

After that night I knew that she was someone special i just had to have in my life. The first year went by in a flash, with us making so many memories that it is hard to talk about in this little story of ours. But the second year was coming and I got to thinking, is she the one for me? This is the longest relationship I had ever been in, was she my forever? The answer after thinking about that question for a little while was yes, she is the only forever I could want. Fast forward to thanksgiving week 2023, November 21st to be exact, and the plan was in motion. I took her out to dinner and then when we got to my Grandad's house, I asked the most loving, caring, beautiful woman I know, to be my wife and marry me. Now, every guy gets nervous, the thought of her saying no played in my head a few times, but she had put up with me for this long so I figured yes was the answer I would get. I was right, she said yes and now I get to finally stop dreaming of if i get a forever with someone, and just live the forever I get with Lauryn. I am so happy and excited I get to marry her and she and I are going to do great things in each others lives. She is my world and I am so happy to spend the rest of my life with her.