Robb and I met in April, 2013 at the classiest joint around: Ground Zero, which sadly is closed now... He was dressed up and out with many of his close River Falls buddies. I was out with a few friends, including one of my girlfriends, Mandi.

As the night rolled along, Mandi and I decided we wanted to play. We just happened to get put against Robb and his friend. Mandi and I won (duh!), but instead of parting ways, Robb came over to talk with me. I ended up giving Robb my number, not really sure if anything would come from it, seeing as he lived in Mankato and I lived in River Falls.

However, I was wrong! The next day Robb sent me a text. We began talking for about a month until we eventually had our first official date, which went very well. After that date, we took turns visiting each other, and eventually became exclusive on May 27, 2013.

We had a long distance relationship for a good chunk of the beginning of our relationship. As I said earlier, for several months in the beginning, I lived in River Falls and he lived in Mankato, resulting in a distance of about 2 1/2 hours. Robb eventually moved back to River Falls, just as I moved to McKinnley, WI (near Cumberland), so we spent another year doing the long distance thing.

Eventually I got offered a teaching job in Prescott, WI, and we decided it would make sense to move in together. We were super nervous about this! Neither of us had ever lived with a significant other before, and we were going from a long distance relationship to LIVING TOGETHER!

But that decision turned out to be one of our best choices. Living together just felt right, and it was a very easy transition. We can't picture not living together now, so it is crazy recalling how nervous and hesitant we were about it originally. :)

Robb and I started dating on May 27, 2013, so that date has always been special to us as a couple. Our 3 year anniversary was about a month away when Robb came running into our room at midnight (keep in mind, I was definitely sleeping at this point!). He was very excited and told me that he was going to take off work on our anniversary, and he and I would be going on a date to celebrate. I thought it was kind of odd for him to tell me this at midnight, but he was SO excited, so I just rolled with it.

However, Robb and I had previously looked at engagement rings, so the next morning I put two and two together, and I had an inkling that he was going to propose the night of May 27, 2016, on our 3 year anniversary.

On our anniversary, he text me to come home as soon as I could because we had reservations at a local restaurant. I thought it was kind of weird that he made reservations for 5:30 at one of the local restaurants since odds were good we wouldn't need a reservation. However, I thought maybe he was just trying to over prepare in order to ensure we got a table.

When I walked in our house, Robb was standing by the door, dressed up with a gift in front of him. I jokingly said, "Robb, you said no gifts for our anniversary this year!" And he told me, "Well, I lied! Open it." He looked nervous, and I was thinking this has got to be it!

I opened the gift to find 2 champagne bottles and a smaller, wrapped box inside. So I opened the next box. Inside that one were 2 nice champagne glasses and another even smaller wrapped box. I opened the mini box to find... a bunch of rocks! I looked up at Robb, confused.

He then said, "I know those are not what you were expecting. Hopefully this rock will be better." He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. :) I said yes, of course! And we celebrated with a glass of champagne.

I asked to call my mom and other family and friends, but he insisted that I wait until after our dinner because he did not want my phone blowing up. He wanted us to enjoy our night. I thought that was a fair statement, so I went upstairs to get ready since we did still had a reservation, and I was currently in a Ninja Turtle shirt since it was superhero day at school...

After I got ready, we headed out to Craft for our reservation. I told Robb I was sad that I didn't get to call anybody yet and wished my family and friends could celebrate with me. Little did I know, this wish was about to come true!

When we got to the restaurant, Robb told the hostess we had a reservation under Robb. This hostess, unknowingly, semi-ruined Robb's big surprise because she goes, "Oh, the party of 15? They are in the back." At that moment, I knew Robb had made my wish come true! And it was going to be even better than just making phone calls!

I was SO EXCITED and ran to the back of the restaurant. I could not believe it, my family and some close friends were there to celebrate with us! Robb had planned a "surprise 3 year anniversary" party. Because Robb hadn't confirmed with anyone that it was actually an engagement party, everyone sat still and silent as I approached, for they did not 100% know if he had proposed or not, though many assumed that was why they were there. Some of them even got "congrats on your engagement" cards.

I held up my hand to show them, and they all cheered and celebrated our engagement with drinks and dinner. It was a great feeling having them all there.

May 27, 2016 was one of the best days yet!