Freshman year of college, Felicia and Ryan were both very quick to get involved in the Catholic student community at the University of Michigan. Being some of the only freshmen involved, it didn’t take long for upperclassmen to start nudging Ryan in the direction of Felicia. The year led the two to swing dance nights together, participating on an alternative spring break (ASB) trip to Mississippi together and eventually Ryan asking Felicia to the spring semi-formal dance. Although feelings were definitely being shared towards the end of freshman year, the busyness of school and other discernment efforts kept the two remaining good friends through sophomore year. As much as they grew accustomed to nudging off comments from peers, God continued to pull the two of them together their junior year of college by setting them up together as co-retreat team leaders and ASB site leaders. The year was filled with much growth, formation and challenge within these ministries that ultimately revealed how compatible the two were for each other. By the time ASB came around in spring of 2020, it was clear for both Ryan and Felicia that God was placing them together for a reason and feelings stronger than “just friends” were present. The final night of the trip, the two stayed up talking for hours when the conversation transitioned towards their relationship. It was that night that they each acknowledged that they were interested in dating one another. 5 days later, on Felicia’s 21st birthday, the University announced it was moving to online classes and the world went into lockdown. 7 days later, Ryan asked Felicia on a date. Being very limited by the state of the world, the first date consisted of a lengthy walk along the Huron River and conversation that lasted hours. Remaining in the same Covid-19 “bubble” allowed the two to continue to go on many, many long walks and get very creative with other date ideas (how about an obstacle course and shopping cart races for a date night??). The first several months of their relationship consisted of quality time spent together (both their #1 Love Language) while being in isolation. Camping trips, more walking, hammocking, cooking and journaling summarized the first year of the lovebirds relationship. Another year in Ann Arbor ment football games together and many adventurous date nights in the kitchen where the two mastered their signature dishes of pizza, pad thai, and sweet potato nachos. Thanksgiving 2021 marked the first holiday the two shared together and a Christmas where Felicia’s family was able to witness Ryan’s beautiful singing voice and Ryan’s family was able to witness the copious amounts of coffee Felicia consumes. Year 2 marked many more serious conversations regarding marriage and the future of the couple’s relationship. Ryan began his full-time career with the Army Corps of Engineers and Felicia was accepted into a graduate program for the next year. After each of the 5 weddings the two attended that year, more and more details of their future wedding began to lay out. Summer of 2022, Felicia moved to Warsaw, IN to complete her internship with J&J in person, creating another summer of distance for the two. To Ryan’s delight, that resulted in Felicia driving 3 hours back to Michigan nearly every weekend and the two realizing that distance was not desirable in the slightest bit. Not long after, engagement rings became a regular conversation and Ryan started making some trips to the hardware store. Nov 19th, 2022 Ryan had to make a pit stop at the river to take a picture of the rapids for work (not sure which is worse, the excuse or the fact that Felicia believed it). As Ryan led Felicia down to the riverside they walked by on their first date, snow began to fall, creating the perfect “Hallmark” moment just as Felicia requested (Thank you Jesus). After a cheesy statement or two, Ryan got on his knee and popped the question, to which Felicia answered with a resounding YES!