We met on the traditional 2016 way... on Tinder! Can you guess who made the first move? I'll give you a hint: the first words exchanged were "YOU'RE ADORABLE." Tinder messages quickly turned into exchanged phone numbers, and after texting back and forth for a couple of weeks, we finally met in person on November 8, 2016. We decided at first to just be friends, and through finals week and Christmas break, we couldn't help but continue making excuses to talk with one another. After I returned back to Columbia, we decided to see each other again. At the beginning of 2017, the majority of our time together was spent sitting together and talking about everything under the sun – our favorite books and movies, the kind of wine we enjoyed, what our childhood was like, our aspirations for our individual lives and futures. We often would talk well into the wee hours of the night, and Nathan would drive me the whole 1.4 miles back to my East Campus apartment. One Sunday afternoon, I went over to Nathan's apartment to hang out and I had a bone to pick with him: he forgot that he had suggested we see a movie, and when I got to his place, he forgot to purchase ticket, and they had sold out. Really, I was more upset with myself that I was acting like his girlfriend when I clearly was not. This frustration turned into a long, emotional conversation about past relationships, fears about entering into a serious relationship, and eventually, how much we really cared about each other. After hour 6 of our talk, we decided we were hungry and ventured out for Tex-Mex at La Terraza – our first "date" and outing together aside from each other's couches. We only saw each other more and more after this. Dates included walks along Hinkson Creek Trail, trips to get Andy's frozen custard, picking up pizza, RedBox movie, and a new bottle of wine, or cooking together. On February 23, 2017, Nathan asked me to be his girlfriend. On May 30, 2020, he asked me to be his wife.

Plan A had always been to propose to the woman that I’d marry at the family farm. I thought walking under the understory of rosebuds + dogwoods to the well-worn picnic table in the field would be the perfect spot. Chelsea + I have always been smitten with hot air balloons. I started thinking more about the perfect proposal for her and knew that a hot-air balloon was it. Plan B secured. Fun fact, hot air balloons fly under extremely specific conditions: 72 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, + 6-8mph winds. When Chelsea started her “gentle” nudging about getting engaged in winter, the conditions weren’t ideal. I kept her at bay until March + worked around COVID to ask her parents’ blessing in person. Blessings secured, I called Ben the balloon guy. Ben assured me that Saturday would be gorgeous, so I booked it, texting Chelsea, “I have a date planned.” Afraid to spill the beans, I spent most of Saturday “working.” Ben texted that the weather might turn, but I was confident we’d luck out. I brought home pizza + flowers and snuck the ring in my pocket. After watching Ben inflate the balloon and look to the sky seemingly forever, Ben said it was unsafe to fly. With Chelsea’s green eyes as big as dinner plates, I had to come up with something else. Plan C was going out to Les Bourgeois winery. We dashed down the highway + arrived right at sunset. We walked hand-in-hand to the bluff top + had a beautiful view of the Missouri river. Admittedly frazzled, we stood there taking in the view – Chelsea says I kissed her forehead 40 times – until I worked up the courage to get down on a knee, tell her she was the love of my life + ask her to marry me. She said “YES!” and we excitedly hugged and kissed. Back home, we called all of our loved ones + announced to Ranger that we were engaged! The next day was beautiful, so we took our long-awaited balloon trip + soared above Columbia, snapping pictures, completely care-free. Chelsea + I giggled and dreamed about our future.