The first time I saw Sam was at the start of my freshman year at Winona State University. He was dressed up as McDreamy from the show Grey's Anatomy for Halloween... I thought he was hot! That night at ZaZa’s, we started to chat with each other but after a few minutes our friends pulled us in different directions and headed out to the next bar. Somehow I already had his snapchat but after that night we started snapping each other. The following year during early summer of 2020, he asked me out over text, and I said no, I wanted to know him better first! I had no idea at the time he would turn out to be such a caring and loving man once I got to know him. That fall, we had a class together and ended up partners for a group project. Since we were partners, we spent a good amount of time working on the project together but he was definitely studying me more than the kinesiology textbook. The semester ended and our group project went well, although I did the majority of it! That winter, he went to Mexico and told his whole family about me. After a few drinks and some help from his cousin, he finally texted me again… and I said yes!!! When he got back in town, we planned our first date to go to the Mall of America. During that date, we were so invested in our conversation that we lost track of how many steps we took versus stores we shopped at. We walked around the mall for FOUR hours and only stopped in ONE store, and not to mention we also got Caribou coffee at 7pm that night. Honestly, it set the tone for our relationship five years later: coffee anytime and lots of quality time. As time went on, we kept going on more dates until he “asked” me to be his girlfriend on March 27th, 2021… or maybe March 28th? Honestly, it was a confusing time for both of us. Let me explain! We were out to a bar with friends when he pulled me aside to talk. He meant to ask me to be his girlfriend, but instead the conversation went like this:

Sam: “How do you think things are going?”

Me: “I think things are going great! I’m really happy and loving it!”

Sam: huge grin “Great!”

Me: smiling but slightly confused “Great!!”

And that was it.

We went back to our friends, and later his buddy came up to me and gave me a high-five and said, “Congratulations!!! You and Sam are officially boyfriend and girlfriend!!!” I was like, “We are?!” Then he told me Sam was telling everyone at the bar... Sam and I spent the next few days trying to figure out what actually happened, but in the end, we both knew we wanted to be together. So we made it official and picked March 27th as our anniversary! We dated for four years after that and I loved every single moment of it. We grew together by encouraging each other, always being there for each other, and supporting each other through everything! We overcame many obstacles and always found a way to get through things. I was so excited thinking about the possibility of spending the rest of my life with him. He decided to take the next step with me in May of 2025. He surprised me on his white coat ceremony day and brought all of our families to Hanover, Minnesota to secretly watch the proposal and celebrate with us! It was the best day of my life until I get to marry this man on 08/28/2026 in front of all of you!!! I can’t wait for this next chapter together. Let’s get ourselves married, Sammy D :)

Now... Here goes the real story :)

Being at Winona State University was nothing but a dream for a young guy like me. I remembered waking up on the first day of school super nervous to just be a student. First class was at 8 a.m. and I walk into a giant auditorium full of 100+ women and like 10 guys. I was stunned when I saw a beautiful blonde girl out of the corner of my eye on the other side of the auditorium. I told my dorm-mate who was sitting next to me that she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. I play the sly card and ask him for her snapchat and I start to snap her as any other love struck guy would do. Fast forward 1 month to Halloween and I am at Zaza's Pub and Pizzeria and I see this beautiful girl again and she had me hooked from there when we talked for the first time in person. I took a leap of faith the following May during the COVID shutdown and asked her if she would want to go on a date together and get to know each other. She told me that it wasn't the right time for her. Little did she know my mom did not raise someone to quit when they want something. I was persistent and I waited until winter of 2020 and I had some help from my wingman Uncle Jeff to get the courage to ask this amazing girl out AGAIN.. With liquid courage and an amazing cousin, Sydney I had a long amazing text that finally convinced her to say yes to going on a date together. We went on our date and I was hooked on this amazing, genuine, kind and caring individual and I guess you could say I am a lover boy because I went home smiling and as happy as a guy can be. We went back down to Winona after winter break and I knew that I would be able to spend more time with her consistently. This lead up to endless coffee trips and taking her out to eat to grow our connection and convince her that I am not just a great man but an amazing boyfriend. I asked her out the first time when we spent a night out together in Winona and clearly I thought I asked the right question but it did not get received that way. I thought we were dating but the guy I am I was beating around the bush to say "will you be my girlfriend" and said "I think you are amazing and I think we should be official". 2 days later I asked her out officially and March 27th became the best day of my life knowing that was the anniversary with my favorite human alive. We grew together in Winona in so many ways and faced adversity and overcame the obstacles in each others lives together. I knew when we were celebrating our 2 year anniversary in La Crosse Wisconsin that I knew I wanted to marry this amazing girl who changed my world. We Graduated together, watched each other achieve so many honorable things and it lead us to the moment on my big day in Graduate school where I was receiving my White Coat which is a halfway accomplishment to becoming a Chiropractor. I had her convinced it was a day about me, and she was wrong! We went to an amazing restaurant to eat with my "immediate family" and next thing you know I am down on one knee with a ring that blinded me when I looked at it asking my best friend to marry me. We can't wait to celebrate our big day with all of you! The best is yet to come!