We met at Concordia when I started as a freshman in 2018, but didn’t really know each other. The year went by and still we hadn’t gotten up the courage to actually talk to one another. At the end of the year the school hosted a movie night (it was Shrek of course) and we both happened to be there with our respective friend groups. Sean was a few rows back and quoted the whole entire movie. My friends were getting annoyed, but I whispered to them and said “I’m gonna marry that man” because how could I not with him quoting one of my favorite movies word for word. At the time, my friends just rolled their eyes, but now we all laugh at the irony of me inadvertently saying I wanted to marry Sean when he was still basically a stranger.

We were making a last minute visit to our favorite beach (my mom took me there all the time when I was younger) to pick rocks for Mom. As we were walking along the beach, I was handing a few of the pretty rocks to Sean to hold onto when he says "Honey, you missed one." I turned around and there he was on one knee. By far the easiest yes or my life <3

Within minutes of Sean proposing, an endangered bird species that I've always loved went scuttling along the lakeside. In over 20 years of frequenting that beach, that was the first time I saw a Piping Plover so I think it's pretty safe to say that it was God telling us He meant for us to be together. Piping Plovers now hold a very special place in our hearts.