Sam and first met at Michelle's 21st birthday party in Waukesha. Sam accompanied mutual friends, Dawn and Dexter, to her party, on a 90 degree July night in her non-air conditioned college home. They enjoyed a fun filled evening (probably a little too much fun), that ended with Sam and Dexter having to break into Michelle's house through the bathroom window after she misplaced her house keys on the walk home.

After a few months of casual conversation, the two decided to reconnect and go on a "real date." Unknown to either of them, almost every weekend after that first real date would be spent together between Waukesha and Fall River as Michelle finished her last semester of nursing school. Sam made it official on New Year's Eve 2011.

A few years go by along with some life transitions- buying their first home, starting a business for Sam, finishing grad school and changing careers for Michelle, various travel endeavors, and adopting another pup to add to their family. It was time to take the next step in their relationship; sell their house and build their forever home! In April 2020 they broke ground on their lot, and on September 4th, exactly one year before their wedding (unknown to them at the time), they moved in. Building a home during a pandemic was surely a blessing and challenge. While they were both very fortunate to not have been heavily impacted by the pandemic, the joy they found in the building process and the excitement to move in kept them going through the difficult year.

About a month after moving in, Michelle and Sam were able to go on a trip to Oregon they had previously canceled due to COVID-19.

The first day of the trip they hiked to the Mitchell Point Overlook in the Columbia River Gorge. As they struggled up the mountain, Sam kept pushing them to keep going until they reached the top. When they reached the top, Michelle sat down to rest. When she turned around, Sam was down on one knee and asked her to marry him. When Michelle asked Sam if he had planned this out with intention, he responded in true Sam fashion "I went and bought the ring on 2 days before the trip, and had no plans. Figured I'd let it happen organically when the time was right."

They may not have done things in the "right" order (does that really exist?), but their story is uncalculated and perfectly unique to them.