We have Maclaren's margaritas to thank for us finally meeting. We met during the pandemic, as most couples did, on Hinge in September 2020. We had been messaging each other back and forth but neither of us had made a move. Thankfully Maclaren had Kaleigh over for her birthday and 6 margaritas later Kaleigh invited Sam over to the "party" (5 girls overserved on margaritas). Sam, having no idea what he was walking into, decided to take a chance, send his friends his location in case he went missing ;) and come over to meet. After that night we decided to go on our first real date, bowling and to get ice cream. The next few weeks consisted of covid at home dates and quickly getting to know each other. Our relationship experienced an unimaginable tough time with the passing of John, Sam's Dad, three months into our relationship. We navigated through the difficult time and faced the hard moments early on. Through the lows of our first year, it was also filled with so much joy, meeting each others families, going to the cabin, and traveling to Boston. In 2022 we started long distance as Kaleigh moved back to LA. Thankfully we had a trip to Europe, many weddings and Sam coming to visit LA a few times to make the long distance easier. In October 2022 Kaleigh was home for weddings and to her surprise was also home for our engagement. Sam took Kaleigh to one of their first date spots, Harriett Island in St. Paul, and proposed right on the river overlooking St. Paul. He then planned an engagement party for all of our family and friends to help celebrate our special day. Shortly after, Kaleigh moved back to Minnesota and moved in with Sam in Apple Valley. We have enjoyed the past year of wedding planning while also traveling to Hawaii and New York to continue to check off many bucket list items. We are so excited to continue our journey and cannot wait for many more memories and adventures together :)