Mike and Rachel’s story began in March 2021 when they met in their college town, Toledo, OH. By that time, Mike had already graduated with his engineering degree in 2019 and was still living in Toledo where he owned a house and was working at his company, BMWC Constructors. Rachel was still in pharmacy school and finishing out her last few months of school in Toledo. A week after they met, Mike was called away to Chicago for a two month work assignment. They facetimed for hours every night while he was gone, quickly getting to know each other and becoming best friends. After Mike came back to Toledo, they officially started dating on June 25, 2021.

Rachel’s year of pharmacy rotations began in June, which were assigned before she ever met Mike. Luckily, her first two months of rotations were in Toledo, so they were able to spend every day that summer with each other. Starting in August, the rest of Rachel’s rotations were in the Cleveland area. They knew this meant they would have to be long distance, but someone was definitely looking out for them when they received the news that Mike was needed on a project in Elyria, which meant he would be moving to Cleveland in September! He moved into an apartment in Strongsville, 10 minutes down the road from where Rachel was currently living at her parent’s house. After Rachel graduated in May 2022 and passed her licensure exams, she moved into an apartment in North Royalton, which became their first apartment together in January 2023 when Mike moved in.

On December 15, 2023, Mike proposed to Rachel in Frankenmuth, MI in front of the Christmas tree. Knowing Rachel’s love for Christmas, Mike introduced her to Frankenmuth (home of Bronner’s - the world’s largest Christmas store) during their first Christmas season together in 2021. She loved it so much they went again in 2022. Since then, going to Frankenmuth has become their annual Christmas time tradition, leading to the proposal in 2023 that marked the beginning of a new chapter in their love story.

In April 2024, Mike and Rachel started another new chapter in their story by moving from Cleveland to Columbus due to Mike’s job. As they start to settle into their new home in Powell, they look forward to continuing to build their life and future together in this new city.

Mike and Rachel love traveling together (when Mike’s not traveling for work): some of their favorite trips together have included Miami, Cancun, Napa Valley, and of course, their yearly trips to Frankenmuth.