Alisha (Jenna's cousin and bridesmaid!) kept insisting that we meet each other. We had been friends on Facebook for a year (probably longer...) and nothing ever came of it. Then out of the blue, on November 2, 2020, Aaron decided to send the first message. "I am going to break the ice! I know, after all this time! If we are going to be Facebook friends, I figured I should at least say hello!" He will tell you that it took a week to get a response back, when it actually was less than 24 hours. I think it felt like a week because he was a bit nervous! We started messaging back and forth, but everything was still closed in the midst of the pandemic. We continued to talk almost every day, and got to know each other. Fast forward to March, and we were texting back and forth on a Friday night about how we couldn't wait to meet each other. I finally said, "What are you doing tomorrow?" Aaron was scheduled to ref a hockey game, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to finally meet in person. On March 20, 2021, we went to Five West on our first date. We were enjoying each other's company so much, we ended up closing the place down. We both knew that first date was the start of something special!

In the beginning of December, Aaron decided to start the hunt for the perfect ring. He made several different trips to the same jewelry store, and each time he went back to the same one. After the third time, he finally took the plunge and bought it. At Alisha and Dan's wedding on New Year's Eve, Aaron was cornered by his sister and soon to be sister-in-laws about when he was going to propose. With a big smile, he said he had it covered. We had our first ice fishing trip planned at the end of January for Aaron's birthday weekend. Little did I know, he had a surprise in store for me (and our families were in on it!). On the first day, fishing was slow, but we celebrated Aaron's birthday. The following morning, we still weren't catching any fish, so we poured some mimosas, turned on some music, and started dancing. Next thing I knew, Aaron was down on one knee asking me to marry him. He snapped the ring box closed so fast, I didn't even get to see the ring. He was a little afraid he was going to drop it down one of the holes in the ice! He VERY carefully opened it back up and put it on my finger. I had no idea that day would be the start of our forever1