Jake and Danielle were moving into their separate apartments to begin their sophomore years of college at the University of Minnesota. Jake, a physics major, Danielle, a biology major. During move in, Jake attempted to change a light bulb, but ended up shattering it all over the floor. Since he lived with all boys and did not own a broom, Jake's roommate called his friend Danielle who lived upstairs to borrow hers. Jake and Danielle did not begin their friendship until the following summer, but they first met over his broken light bulb. Little did we know, Jake was ultimately calculating how many light bulbs it would take to meet his future wife.

Jake and Danielle had their first date at the Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota. They often liked to go back to the Cathedral as it is very beautiful and brings back fun memories, so planned to attend Midnight Christmas Eve Mass there last December. The two left the Sorensen's home, and while driving into the cities, shared fun memories they had created over the past year and a half. Once they arrived, Jake asked Danielle to walk around to the front of the Cathedral to see the nativity scene. She was cold... but reluctantly agreed, and thankfully she did because that is where Jake proposed! Neither can remember much about the midnight mass, as they were starstruck at how sparkly the diamond ring was. At the end of mass, Archbishop Hebda graciously blessed their engagement. The two arrived back at the Sorensen household quite late, where Danielle's parents were awaiting their arrival with a champagne celebration. Christmas Day was very special as the newly engaged couple got to share the exciting news with Danielle’s grandparents after they woke up, and then traveled down to Rochester, Minnesota to share with the Nelson family, who didn’t know about the surprise!