The very first class that both Ashley and Tristan took at Southern Adventist University ended up being the exact same one; Personal Finance. However, neither of them talked to each other, only exchanged Snapchat info for a group project (and still never talked in person). Two years later, in the summer of 2021, Tristan took a trip with his family to Colorado, and went to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Two weeks later, completely unrelated, Ashley and her family made almost the exact same trip. Tristan found that to be a very convenient time to swipe up on her social media to say “Hey, I was just there! Wasn’t it cool?” Things progressed from there, and they texted the entire summer. Once August rolled around and school started again, Tristan asked Ashley to go get ice cream. Ashley turned him down… She didn’t want to go out with anyone, as she was going to be graduating that December. I was - I mean Tristan was - very dejected, but accepted no for an answer, as Tristan is a respectful young man. In November however, he tried again. Tristan and Ashley were both in the gym at Southern when each of their respective intramural hockey games got canceled. Britney Dixon went to Tristan to see if he would like to play a pick up game with Ashley and her friends. After the game, Tristan was feeling very bold, and asked one more time to hang out. This time, she said yes. Tristan took her to the movies to go see Dune (very symbolic, right?). Even though Ashley was confused as to what was going on in the movie, she still liked him enough to agree to go get Taco Bell after the movie. A few Crunchwrap Supremes and burritos later, they each knew that this was going to be more than just a one-time movie viewing…

Thanks to Brendan Gay forgetting to check the dates on Ticketmaster, Tristan was gifted Seattle Seahawks vs Tennessee Titans tickets in Nashville on Christmas Eve. But because this happened in October, Tristan had plenty of time on his hands to plan… something. Since Tristan and Ashley had made many Nashville trips before (it had become their favorite city to visit), he knew he should make this a special one for her. She wouldn’t be suspicious of any particular question, as this was a trip to Nashville for football, and football only. Right? Wrong. Tristan’s meticulous planning allowed everything to fall into place perfectly. The photographer, reservations at a Christmas light show, and most importantly, the ring all came together just in time. The only thing now would be to figure out a way to make Ashley not suspicious at all. Tristan invited Nick Galindo and Sarah Fisher to go with them on the trip. He had them “recommend” the light show. Ashley thought it was a great idea. So when the day came, they loaded up in the car, and headed up to Nashville. The four of them had a nice dinner together, but with no ring, to throw Ashley off the scent even more. Then they drove to Cheekwood Estates, a very nice arboretum with a beautiful historic mansion and Christmas light display. Once the four of them got to the rendezvous site, Tristan signaled to Nick and Sarah to leave so he could pop the question. They vacated the area, allowing Tristan to ask Ashley to go to a reserved area off to the side of the mansion. Ashley was initially hesitant, as she didn’t realize it was reserved for her. But she gave in, and Tristan led her down a lighted pathway. Tristan had been going over in his head exactly what he would say the entire car ride to Nashville. But of course, as soon as he got in the position to say it, he completely blanked. He stumbled over his words as he was walking down the pathway. And it was at that moment that Ashley realized what was going on, because in her words, “Tristan doesn’t stutter.” She looked to her left and saw someone perched in the bush with a camera, and was about to say something, but Tristan got to his knee before she could do anything, and asked… “Will you make me the happiest man in the world?”