We both lived in the same dorm at Mizzou, one floor apart, with a shared common area. Now, skipping over unofficial meetings, such as one month into school when my new roommate and I yelled through the ceiling at the people above them to stop bouncing a basketball on the floor (they didn't), and the time when Stephen interrupted my studying in the common room by offering to help (with a subject he knew nothing about- showoff!), we officially met in November. I was on my way back from my first formal with my sorority, and my date had cancelled last minute. I was going back to my dorm room, mourning the fact I had looked rather good for this dance and I didn't get to show off for a cute boy, when this boy I didn't know called out from the common room and told me I looked good. I appreciated that little bit of flirting after a night by myself and went and sat by him for a few minutes... that turned into a couple hours. By the end of the night, we had each others numbers and a promise to have another unofficial date soon, and all thoughts of the formal date who cancelled on me were long gone.

Stephen was born and raised in Kansas City. He played football in high school as his team's linebacker. He went to the University of Missouri for business, graduating in 3.5 years with a BSBA as well as a Bachelor's in Political Science. He's currently working to earn his Master's in Business Intelligence and Analytics from Rockhurst University, and he works as an analyst for the Federal Reserve of Kansas City. In his spare time you'll find him spending time with his dog or listening to podcasts about economics, government, or other miscellaneous topics. In the future, he hopes to eventually work as a professor of one of the many topics that interest him, as well as travel the world with his soon-to-be wife. Ashley was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. She spent her time in high school singing in multiple choirs, performing in plays and musicals, and arguing cases on her school's Mock Trial team. She went to the University of Missouri and explored several paths before deciding to get a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology (and minors in biology and Spanish) while taking pre-requisite classes for nursing school. She then moved back to St. Louis to start her nursing education at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish, while Stephen moved back to Kansas City to start his new job. The two years of weekend train rides and road trips to see each other are finally over, as Ashley graduated with her BSN in December 2019 and moved to KC to begin working as a nurse. Her future plans include working as a nurse practitioner, eventually teaching future nurses, owning as many dogs as possible, and traveling the world with her soon-to-be husband.