Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I never thought I would meet the love of my life on a dating app, but during Covid, there were not many options available as much of what was in La Crosse was restricted. John messaged me on Tinder in October 2020, but I had deleted the app and didn't see the message until I redownloaded it in November. I saw his message and responded to him, and thankfully no girls had snatched him up in this time. ;) He asked me out on a date on November 13th and he drove over to La Crosse to O. White Hall at UWL where I was an RA, and brought me flowers, wine, cupcakes, and brownies. This was during Covid and only freshman students who lived in the dorm were allowed in-- so I, the RA, snuck in a 25-year-old with a beard. We talked until 5am and the next day I drove over to Winona to go on a date with him. I remember calling my mom on my way over and I told her I was going to marry him someday. This photo is from November 18th, when we got ice cream at Nate and Ally's and is our first picture together.

John and I fell in love in Winona, going on adventures together and romantic dates. This is my first time on Sugar Loaf Bluff in Winona.

I graduated with my bachelors from UWL and John was there to support me!

Our first Valentine's Day together.

This was John's first time meeting my family and his first time at the cabin. We went snowmobiling at the cabin- which was a first for the IL boy too.

The first sketch John made after seeing the cabin for the first time and deciding he wanted to fix it up for me.

My first time meeting John's family at a winery in Terre Haute, IN.

Our first vacation together was to Myrtle Beach, SC. We explored different parts of NC and SC, but our favorite was the architecture in Charleston. John and I both like history and Charleston is full of it! This photo is from Magnolia Gardens.

My first Illini football game!!

With John's family, we traveled to Lander Wyoming and the Grand Teton's.

Our first home together!

It took a bit of convincing to get me out of bed this early on a Saturday, but John asked me to be his wife at sunrise in front of the cabin we had been fixing up together at my family's land. He knew and still knows how special the cabin is to me and worked so hard to fix it up the previous spring, summer, and fall (and following spring, summer, and fall). It just made it that much more special that he chose this spot to ask me. He said the view from the sunrise photo will be our view each morning we stay down there. It just so happened we were taking family photos that day (hmm sneaky mom), so my mom snapped some photos of us all cleaned up. John also surprised me by having his mom drive up from IL to be there to celebrate with us along with my mom, dad, and brother. John also designed my ring on his own and added a sapphire underneath to honor my mom & dad and his mom & late dad as they were both married in September (and so will we!)