(Picture above, November 22, 2017, 9th Grade, Mikaela and Daniel's first photo together)

It all began in 2015, when Mikaela and Daniel were just 12 years old, meeting for the first time in their middle school lunchroom—where a flurry of M&M’s tossed across the table became their unconventional way of saying, “Hi, nice to meet you.”

They didn’t get along at first. Daily teasing and not-so-quiet kicks beneath the desk earned more than a few stern looks from their seventh-grade English teacher. But when Mikaela sprained her ankle in gym class, and Daniel offered to carry her binder, something gentle and unexpected began to grow—a friendship quietly blooming.

Time pulled them apart for a while, but fate had other plans. In 2017, at 14 years old, they crossed paths again during their middle school rock band concert, “Rock the World,” and the story they’d started picked up, right where it had left off.

Then came high school. On the first day, Mikaela, rushing to her final class—Biology—found every seat taken… except one. It was beside Daniel. Neither of them could have known that this single, unclaimed seat would be the beginning of everything.

Since then, their love has grown steadily and sweetly—through movie dates, magical Disney trips, and quiet adventures hand in hand. And now, after seven beautiful years together, they’re ready to begin the next chapter of the story they’ve been writing all along—marriage.