Stefan- Before our paintballing mixer that pike was having with Pi Phi I was playing beer pong with some friends and I noticed a group of girls walk into the house. Kylie was clearly the cutest of the bunch, so I went to say hello. She had a stack of Del Taco coupons and said she would rather get a taco than go paintballing. I didn't have any money to go paintballing, plus she was cute...how could I say no? I was trying to play it cool, but I was trying very hard to impress her that day. Kylie- My sorority held a mixer with Stefan's fraternity. I walked into his fraternity house and asked if anyone would prefer to grab a free taco (I had a coupon) rather than go paintballing. A tall blond in a tank top walked up and said "I'm Stefan." That was it. I was smitten immediately.

In 2017 we both graduated from the University of Utah, began our careers, and moved in together! Stefan- I was very excited to move in together. I was tired of having roommates and dealing with the constant battle to keep things clean. I love living with Kylie. She makes our house feel like a home and not a dorm room. Our house is always decorated to fit the theme for the time of the year. Kylie- My favorite thing about living with Stefan is the amount of time we are able to spend cooking together! My mom always said the way to your heart is through your stomach... it's no wonder we spend so much time creating meals with one another.

Stefan- After Kylie and I moved in together, I always felt that we were going to be together for the long run. We had our ups and downs and it seemed apparent that she didn't know what she wanted in life. In the summer of 2019 she decided to quit her job and move home for a few months. I was sad that she was gone, but I appreciated the self-awareness she had to figure out what she wanted for herself. When she surprised me and came back I could tell that she was ready to be with me and I knew I wanted to marry her. Kylie- I knew that I wanted to marry Stefan in 2019. This was an extremely difficult year for the two of us. We lived in a home with an insane landlord, I was unhappy in not only my job but the entire career path, and in the course of two days my car was totaled and we were told we needed to find a new place to live. I already was thinking about leaving my job, so I decided to move back to Connecticut for a while. One day, while driving down Birdseye road, a song came on my Spotify Recent Release playlist called Grow As We Go by Ben Platt. The lyrics to this song reminded me of all the reasons I have loved growing with Stefan throughout the years, and I began to cry. At that moment, I realized that he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, without a doubt.

While 2020 was an extremely difficult year in many ways it also was extremely fruitful. We purchased a home together and adopted our twins, Timp and Sage. Kylie went back to school to begin a career switch and Stefan proposed! On November 24th we planned on having a seafood dinner with Stefan, Ingrid, and my family. My dad hired a girl named Rachel to come and shuck oysters for our feast. Upon her arrival, I was making a drink in the kitchen alone. As she was setting up she made some small talk, one of her questions being "So, who's getting engaged?". Obviously, my mouth dropped. With the group of people coming to dinner I assumed it had to be me. She felt terrible that she ruined the surprise and I'm still a little bummed I'll never know what my true reaction would have been. Freaking out, I walked down into the basement repeating "oh my gosh" over and over. Stefan was sitting on the couch, writing down what he planned on saying. He asked if I was okay and I told him I didn't know what Bourbon to add to the drink I was making. After that I anxiously waited for the rest of my family to arrive, knowing what was to come. Luke had the clever idea to call me downstairs, claiming we needed to coax Colin away from video games while everyone else got ready for the proposal. When my mom called us up to the kitchen I saw Stefan standing with my most cherished loved ones surrounding him. My favorite song was playing softly in the background. I cried the entire time and even dropped to my knees along with Stef. Stefan knows how important my family is to me, and it meant the world that they were able to share this moment with us, especially Mia. After the proposal, we had our seafood dinner and a bonfire, where I proceeded to scream "I'M ENGAGED" throughout the night. RIP everyone's ears.