Ryan and Carly initially met while both living in Wauwatosa via a dating app where they had exchanged a few messages. After a few weeks they officially met by happenstance when Ryan realized that his match on the app, was the same person that lived in his building. Carly still doesn't believe that Ryan was aware and had wanted to say hi to Carly for a while, but Ryan thought this was the perfect opportunity now that he had a reason to say hello.

The story wasn't that straightforward however, because Ryan didn't have this revelation until he was on the way back to his apartment, to move out the last load of his things and clean the apartment for the very last time. All he had left was a permanent marker and a loose leaf notebook. Ryan wrote a letter that may have looked a little creepy at first glance, given the supplies he had and left it at Carly's door. It was kind of late, so he didn't want to knock and as he walked out of the building, he just hoped she'd see it and reach out. Luckily for everyone, and the reason this blurb even exists is Carly texted him the next day and basically the rest is history. They went on a date the following Thursday in Wauwatosa, and went on another date, a hike that weekend together at Devil's Lake.