It was December of 2017 in Chicago when Kristin and Mike first crossed paths. Kristin had recently moved into the city from the suburbs to explore and enjoy the city life of Chicago. Mike had also recently moved to the city of Chicago from Phoenix. Kristin often refers to this time as “the time when Mike moved to Chicago to find me”. They first met at their neighborhood gym. Mike had approached Kristin and asked to work in on a set. Kristin remembers going home and telling her roommate about this cute guy she met at the gym. Mike remembers going home and feeling like a gym creeper. After that day they both kept going back to the gym around the same time to try to bump into each other again. The holidays rolled around though, they hadn’t seen each other, and they were both nervous they had missed their chance. They finally met at the gym again after Christmas. They both kept going back to the gym eager to see one another and after several workouts, they agreed they should spend time together outside the gym. :)

Time outside of the gym had been going extremely well. In just a few short months, Mike had met Kristin's family and best friends, Kristin met Mike's family from Michigan, and they had moved in together and fell in love. Kristin was surprised that a man like Mike even existed-- he was thoughtful, supportive, silly, and fit in with her family perfectly. Mike was incredibly excited to have found a wonderful and caring woman. Things just felt easy and right together. Kristin had essentially moved into Mike's apartment (just making trips back for clothes) in March and officially moved in with Mike in May. Come early July, Mike and Kristin moved into their new apartment and were enjoying getting settled in to their new home together. Kristin's family and friends moved them in, they were on a volleyball team, and began decorating their new home. One day, Kristin and Mike were driving to Michigan to visit when Mike shared the news that someone from Honeywell in Arizona called and asked him to interview for a position in Phoenix. "We moved into our apartment two weeks ago." Kristin said. But in her heart, Kristin knew she was ready to make this move with him and hoped Mike wanted her to go too. The next thing they knew, they were saying goodbye to their home in Chicago. This would be the first time Kristin ever lived out of state and away from her family and best friends. They spent August at going away parties thrown by family and friends, and their housewarming party at their brand-new apartment quickly turned into their going away party. They quickly settled into their Arizona home together which had solidified both of their confidence in wanting to spend forever with each other. They have become each other's family and created their own by adopting their dog Travis.

Kristin first remembers thinking Mike could be her husband as they were dancing silly together to a song called Kanye by the Chainsmokers. In that moment, she felt safe, loved, and knew her life with Mike would always be a fun adventure. Mike started envisioning his future with Kristin when they were cuddled on the couch last Christmas talking about their future together and desire to have a large family. Kristin and Mike began planning a trip to Bali, Indonesia in early 2019. This was Kristin’s #1 on her bucket list. This island is full of love, exotic wildlife, epic scenery, and deep culture. The first three days of Bali were amazing. They first visited Ubud where they climbed a volcano at sunrise. At the top of the volcano, a monkey almost stole the engagement ring Mike had been carrying around. In Ubud they hung out with wild monkeys and lodged in an amazing villa that Mike surprised Kristin with overlooking beautiful rice patties. The next day, they went on a private grand tour of the most scenic places in Bali. At the second stop of the day, they visited a rice patty plantation where coffee and tea were made. Kristin became suspicious of Mike’s plans when he asked their tour guide for the van keys to go to the bathroom, and you don’t typically need van keys to go to the bathroom. Her eagerness arose when they were drinking freshly made coffee and tea samples. She hoped for good conversation with her boyfriend or a chance to absorb the view, but their tour guide would not stop talking. Finally, as they were about to leave this stop on the tour, Mike asked the tour guide to take one more picture. H then got down on one knee and asked Kristin to marry him! :) They then went on the rest of the scenic tour, told their families the great news later that night in Ubud, and spent the rest of their time in Bali enjoying the excitement of getting to spend the rest of their lives together.