It all began on August 9th or 10th (we don't remember if it was past midnight), 2014. My friend, Megan Kroger, forced me to go to a little house party on UD's campus as the first students were starting to move back in. Meg took me to 226 Kiefaber. We were hanging out on the back porch when a tan, tall boy came up to us and introduced himself. (This was Matt!) My birthday had been a few days before and someone at their house wished me a happy birthday. This was Matt's chance. He asked what I got this year for my birthday and I told him my favorite gift - my new bike. He then slyly informed me his bike-riding friend, Frank, had to transfer from UD and he was in desperate need of a new bike partner. He asked for my number and told me he would text me to go on a bike ride when I moved to campus in a few weeks. I thought to myself, "Sure. I am never going to hear from this kid again." A few weeks later after I had moved all my stuff into VWK, I got the text from Matt following up about the bike ride. I said yes and then the day of I got too nervous and backed out. We rescheduled and as that date got closer I didn't want to have to do physical activity with this new cute boy! So again, I denied the bike ride. Matt texted me back, "Do you want to do ANYTHING?" to which I said, "Yes." And our first date to Flanny's Trivia commenced. Our story continues with so much joy. Breakfast Club mornings, adventuring to new dinner spots around Dayton and Cincinnati, meeting each others friends and families, cheering on UD basketball and Michigan sports, bike rides, visiting STL and Lakeside, creating our own trips to new places like Holland, Michigan and Switzerland, playing tennis, encouraging each other in new jobs, moving into our own place, falling in love with cooking together and so much more. I can't wait to see how our story will continue to grow as we commit to doing this crazy life thing together. -Sarah

After being with Sarah for over 4 years, I have learned one very important thing: It is extremely difficult to hide anything from her. So when it came to our proposal, you can imagine what I had to go through to keep it a secret. I started by enlisting Sarah's family members for my mission to surprise her. Then we had to wait for the perfect occasion. Once I found out that Sarah was going home to Dayton one weekend, I knew this was the perfect opportunity. I immediately snuck away to call Sarah's family to inform them that we have our chance. Our plan was simple: 1. Sarah would leave me at home and drive to Dayton. 2. Her parents and brother would take her out to lunch once she arrived. 3. I would rendezvous at the proposal spot which is the house where we first met at the University of Dayton. 4. Her dad would make up a reason why they needed to come to campus after lunch. 5. He would then proceed to drive super slow down the empty street looking for me, almost blowing our cover. Except that our cover was not blown that day because the look on Sarah's face after she saw me as she stepped out of the car said it all. She was absolutely, 100% surprised. We held hands and walked to the backyard where I proceeded to get down on a knee and ask Sarah if she would spend forever with me, and she would say "yes." She can also be quoted as saying she "blacked out" at this time and still doesn't believe I actually got down on one knee even though I have assured her I did. Her parents then picked us back up as our operation was successful and the celebration of a lifetime was to begin. - Matt