Our story began on a dating app. Both of us owe a huge shoutout to the University of North Dakota, because it was the UND shirt that John was wearing in his photo that first set the hook with Rachel and became the subject of our first message. Luckily, John was able to spend a solid couple hours messaging Rachel on this first day while stranded at the Cenex parking lot in Hillsboro, ND during a blizzard, on a day that also happened to be his birthday in 2022. It did not take us long to realize that we had a connection, even without meeting face-to-face. The messaging continued for another 3 weeks until a date was set up in Minneapolis and John made the hike for the weekend.

The conversations flowed effortlessly on that first date and the connection was even stronger than what we had anticipated. Arrangements were made for Rachel to come up to Grand Forks to visit John for the next one. Rachel already had connections to Grand Forks, including her family's roots in Alvarado, MN just down the road and an annual trip with her family to load the car up with sacks of Red River Valley Potatoes. The rotating travel schedule continued, and in July 2022 we cut loose on our first vacation together in Iceland. Despite doing the distance thing, the bond between us grew stronger over the next year. Rachel decided to spend her summer of 2023 with John and Ralph in Grand Forks. Ralph was hyped to gain another best friend and all three of us had a blast that summer. We endured yet another school year of distance and travelling, before deciding to move in with each other for good in June 2024 in Grand Forks.

We feel like the luckiest people in the world to have met by chance and to have grown as close as we are and are just as lucky to be surrounded by the strongest group of family and friends. We cannot wait to celebrate with everyone in Grand Forks!