We met the way everybody does nowadays, on Hinge. Our first date was in Grand Haven on the pier, where we got ice cream and walked around on the beach. The restaurants were all closed for COVID at this time, so ice cream and an outdoor date was our only option. We both lived with our parents at the time so if we wanted to see each other, we had to meet the parents on dates two and three. Within a month we were officially dating, and it’s been over three years now!

We planned a weekend camping trip with our friends Joe & Maggie in Muskegon area. We were having a ton of fun that summer trying out camping - we both grew up camping with our families, so it was fun to start doing it together. We tried a new campground, Wolf Lake, and were not impressed with the campsite and campground altogether. Riley’s original plan was to propose on our “lakeside” campsite, which ended up being along what I would call a swamp - the lake was across the street from the campground. We had no trees on the site and tons of goose poop. We decided that we should go downtown Muskegon to escape the sun in the afternoon. We went to the farmer’s market and then walked the pier. I didn’t connect the dots when the boys told Maggie and I to get started toward the pier while the boys paid for parking and Riley had to use the bathroom. We had our dog Lucy with us, and when we got to the end of the pier I was so excited to take glamour shots of her. Maggie suggested we take a “family pic” of the two of us with the dog, so I lined Lucy up for a photo and Riley went behind me and got on one knee. I had NO idea it was going to happen that day, and it’s very obvious by what I looked like; bike shorts and a dirty t-shirt, hat over my greasy hair, no makeup, and even a cold sore to top it all off. We went to The Deck for a drink while we called and texted our loved ones. It was such a fun day, and so funny to look back on all the cues I missed.