World of Warcraft (WoW) is one of the largest games in the world; it has been played in 244 countries around the world, has over 4,000,000 daily players, and 500 million characters have been created in-game. In the US alone there are 241 possible servers to play on, yet through all the odds, the two of us ended up on the same raid team, in the largest guild, on the largest server for the game. That's how it all began! Throughout 2017 and 2018 our schedules found us online at the same time so we'd often be playing together; neither of us was looking or expecting a relationship to come out of this game, but the more we chatted, the more we realized we had in common. We also learned that Jacob's brother, Matthew, lived about 20 minutes away from Elizabeth! Even before we started talking, Matthew had been trying to convince Jacob to move to Washington. When Elizabeth came into the mix, Matthew decided to move things on a little faster - in October 2019 he bought Jacob a plane ticket to come out for a visit with him and to meet this lady he'd been talking to online. It was during that visit that we realized we really do have a close connection and want to see where this could go! Elizabeth visited Jacob in Texas the following December, and by January 2019 Jacob was certain he wanted to move. He made another visit to Washington in April 2019 and then he and his son, Kaleb, officially moved to WA that summer!

In December 2022 we took a family vacation to Walt Disney World - the two of us, Kaleb, Jacob's mom, his brother Matthew, and niece Jade. We had been planning and saving for a couple of years, so there was a lot of excitement to finally be there! [Jacob's perspective] I knew I wanted to do the proposal during our trip to Disney World, but where? Everyone would be around, but I wanted it to be special. We had dinners all planned out for the trip, so my thought was to do it at the Beauty & the Beast themed restaurant. That same night they have fireworks, too. Perfect. So before going to dinner, the only person to know anything was my mother. She had prepared a 3D printed flower that you could spin to open; I placed the ring in and ensured it was a tight fit. As we sat down for dinner at this huge table, all my loved ones there to support me (even though nobody had a clue), I was holding this rose with the ring in it all throughout dinner in my lap. As we began to get up and walk out, my knees were shaking but it was time. I went down on one knee, looked Elizabeth straight in the face and she was looking at me not knowing what was happening. She then said "get up, we're going to miss the fireworks!" I then smiled and said, "Elizabeth Hansen, will you marry me?" Her whole face lit up with excitement. The tables next to us just stopped and starred. It was the most magical moment at the most magical place. Elizabeth said "yes!" After, we went out to enjoy fireworks. It was like they were set off just for us, the most perfect and magical night. [Elizabeth's perspective] We had just finished dinner at Be Our Guest and were in a bit of a rush because we were trying to get out for the fireworks. I was moving to get up, and there was Jacob in between the tables. But I was so focused/rushed about the fireworks I got annoyed, thinking, "What is he doing?! Did he drop something? We're gonna be late, let's go!" Then I finally realized what was happening! Jacob was down on one knee and popped the question! The family sitting next to us was quite excited and we got a round of applause from people in the dining room and everything, super cute 🙂 And let me tell you, getting to watch some fireworks immediately after getting engaged is pretty awesome!

The number 14 pops up a lot for Elizabeth's family. All of their birthdays are on the 14th (Elizabeth in January, her dad, Dennis, in May, and her mom, Georgia, in July), and her parent's wedding anniversary is also on the 14th - this makes the wedding date even more special. September 14, 2024, will be Dennis and Georgia Hansen's 44th wedding anniversary! They were married on September 14, 1980, on Monhegan Island, ME with a few close friends in attendance. Thank you for sharing your wedding anniversary with us!