It all started in 2012 when two people crossed paths in the hallways of West McDonel Hall. Little did we know that our lives would never be the same. People closest to us would say, from the beginning, that we would eventually end up together, but we didn't always see it happening the way that it did. Ryan had a crush on Megan for quite some time, but had no idea what to do about it. Living in the dorms together got Ryan used to living with Megan long before it happened. Ryan would get roped into turning Megan's lights out as she went to bed, travel with Megan to the dining hall so she had a friend to eat with, and even watching Megan's favorite reality TV shows. As time passed, we became best friends. It wasn't until we returned for our sophomore year that we started to see what our friends had told us months prior. Ryan finally asked Megan on their first date with a signature Megan Starbucks drink in hand...sucker. For our first date we decided to head back to Grand Rapids for Art Prize. A couple dates later we both knew that this was not something either of us wanted to let go of.

We have had the most amazing journey through life together. There is no one else we would rather do life with. Megan is Ryan's favorite tailgate buddy, wedding date, and comic (from Megan) in the world. And Ryan is Megan's favorite personal chef and chauffeur. We have been through some of the best times together, and the hardest. Megan helped Ryan recover from his accident, we survived COVID-19 together in our first apartment, moved into our second apartment, and now are on the next chapter of our lives...the renovation. For those of you who don't know, we decided to buy a bit of a fixer upper and boy has it put us to the test! We are in the midst of building the rest of our lives together and we couldn't be happier.

8.5 years later...(insert Spongebob meme)

Ryan finally got tired of answering the question, "When are you going to propose?" Ryan knew one thing for certain and that was however he decided to propose, it MUST be a surprise. Megan had been anticipating a proposal at every corner and Ryan wanted to make sure that she was caught completely off guard. With the help of Megan's friends and family, he was able to pull it off. It was totally predictable that Ryan would forget every single word that was supposed to come out of his mouth when he was proposing, but the only thing he remembers for certain was looking Megan in the eye and knowing it didn't matter what came out of his mouth, Megan was the one and she knew it. Ryan surprised Megan on Reeds Lake (a frequent walking spot for us) where she thought she was meeting for a friend's birthday lunch. When they arrived it was cold and rainy. Ryan will never forget the feeling he had when he saw Megan obliviously walking towards him. So many feelings and so much happiness rushing through him. We had an amazing day with friends and family trotting around town in a party bus (shoutout Jen)...just the way Megan wanted it! It was an amazing day that Ryan could not have pulled off alone.