In March 2021, Ruby went with her family over to the West's house to celebrate Dominic's birthday. What she didn't know at the time (or until much later) was that Austin was also at the house. It wasn't until later that evening that the two would actually meet, but Austin was already smitten. Ruby's mom originally told her that she couldn't go with Dominic and his friends, who were all older than Ruby, to the escape room after the "family party." About an hour later, Ruby's mom came down to her room and told her she could go if she had $2 to pay for her share of the escape room. Ruby did not have $2....so she tore up the whole house and found it all in change! As Dominic and his girlfriend Erin were backing out of his driveway, Ruby called them to tell them she could go-so they waited for her to run across the yard and get in the car. At the escape room place, Ruby got introduced to those she didn't know in the group and they proceeded to their room. Roughly 35 minutes in, the whole group got stumped on a clue. Ruby and Erin stood over the table deciphering the timeline in the clue, and thought they figured out the next part..but more hands were necessary. After Erin failed to get the attention of the blabbering boys, Ruby tried...Austin was the first to respond. Something along the lines of "Hold on, the men are on to something." With malicious compliance, Ruby and Erin stood by as the time ran out. Once the gamemaster came back in the room to walk the group through the rest of the challenge, it was discovered that the girls were completely correct in the next step which would've gotten them into the last room and put them at one more puzzle away from escaping. To which Ruby, unsurprisingly, made a smartass remark- "I wonder who they think is smart enough to figure something like that out!"

OBVIOUSLY it was love at first sight.

Austin added Ruby on SnapChat that same night and started a conversation- the conversation that never ended (a real modern love story...). By the end of April, the two had plans to hang out and look at the Pink Supermoon (which, to the dismay of the happy couple, was not pink at all??) They sat and talked in Ruby's backyard for a few hours with some ice cream before coming inside to watch TV. They talked through the entire episode, but then Austin had to get going. He asked Ruby if he could take her on a date, and for the first of a few very important "yes"s in their lives, she accepted.

Because of Ruby's diet restrictions, Austin left the first date location up to her. She very sophisticatedly chose Denny's..because she saw a TV commerical and it sounded good. Ruby had to get right back home after their date to babysit, but Ruby's mom let Austin come inside and watch a movie with Ruby and EJ, and it was very important to Ruby that Austin would be kind and playful with EJ and he was. When Austin left her house, he was on Cloud 9. The very next day, May 2, he asked her to officially be his girlfriend.

Fun fact: Ruby and Austin only lived together in their new home for 13 days before they invested in their pups at the Lake County Dog Warden!

One huge life change at a time isn't enough for them.

In April 2025, Ruby and Austin departed on a much needed vacation to Punta Cana. This plan had been in the works for about 5 months and it was finally time. After a long day of travel, they arrived at their resort, went for a short swim, got dinner, and went straight to bed in preparation for the long beach day ahead of them. At 8am sharp the two got up, got their swim trunks on, ate breakfast when the restaurant opened and headed straight for the beach. The two spent the next 6 hours at their beach cabana, drinking strawberry daiquiris and playing in the ocean. At 3pm it was time to head back to the room to shower and get cleaned up for dinner. Ruby got the first shower, and here is when she knew something was up- dinner was at 5 and Austin didn't rush her WHATSOEVER. He played music and sang to her, complimented her, and took as many pictures of her outfit as she wanted. After they were both ready, they made their way down to the beach. As they approached there was beautiful dinner scene set up that was straight out of Pinterest.

As they got closer, the butler took Ruby's purse and phone, and Austin took Ruby's hand and walked her up the red carpet. At this point, anyone would've known what was happening - but when your boyfriend tells you to turn around on the most beautiful beach you've ever seen in your life; whether you know why or not you turn around.

And there was Austin- down on one knee, tears in his eyes, and Ruby's dream ring in his hand.

For Ruby, this yes came to her easier than any other decision in her life.

There was no shortage of meticulous planning on Austin's part. He spoke to Ruby's family to get their blessing because he knew just how important that would be. Austin successfully conned Ruby into picking out a ring and getting her input on how sparkly and what setting she wanted it to be. Then he schemed with his own mother while Ruby was on midnight shift to order and pick up the ring while she was sleeping- and made it home before she ever knew he left.

The end result being Ruby and Austin getting to celebrate 515 days engaged, before the start of forever.