After more than six years together, we're excited to make this thing official!! We got engaged in April 2023 in the Catskills of upstate New York. Neither of us knew it at the time, but the farm Karen’s grandma, Nana McTigue, grew up on in upstate New York, was just a few miles down the road from where we got engaged. The waterfall Andy proposed in front of was one that Karen’s mom and grandma had adventured to often as kids! Karen's ring also has a special connection to our family. Andy had it made using the diamond Karen’s Grandma Joyce passed down from her own ring. We love that both the ring and proposal serve as a reminder not only to the commitment we have to each other, but also of our connection to family. Karen thought it wasn’t fair that ladies get to have all the fun getting proposed to and wanted Andy to have something special to symbolize the engagement too. So, she proposed back to him in New Zealand where Andy would be doing research for the summer. She surprised him with a ring made of Koa wood with mountains and an ocean wave engraved in it.