Couple’s Story: Our love story started on the most romantic day of the year, Valentine’s Day. It was 2014 and I (Abby) was a senior in college and Brian was in his third year at his company, Deloitte. I went out for Galentine’s Day with my friends – dinner and a movie – and Brian was out with friends from work for a going away party. We met at Mac’s Tavern in downtown Davenport. I was the DD for the night and buying drinks for my friends at the bar when Brian approached me (he was NOT the DD, and very intoxicated). Brian told me that I looked too pretty to be standing in line for a drink at the bar. He moved some people out of my way and let me get to the front to order and then….let me pay for the drinks myself. He did not know that I was buying them for my friends. After getting the drinks we chatted for awhile at the bar and eventually Brian gave me his phone number and asked if we could get dinner two nights later. I texted him the next day (which was a Saturday) in the afternoon and we planned our first date for the next night at Old Chicago. On Sunday night, we met at the restaurant and I later found out that Brian had no recollection of what I looked like. He told me (later in our relationship) that “any blonde could have walked in” and he would have thought it was me. Luckily, no other blondes walked into Old Chicago that night. We ordered pizza – it was his idea for me to first pick 3, then he eliminated one option, and ultimately I picked which kind of pizza we would get. We talked for a couple of hours about anything and everything and when we left we were both hopeful that we would see each other again the next weekend – he was going to be traveling that week for work. We went on multiple dates in the next few weeks, he made me dinner at his house (where we now live together), and we were together ever since that Valentine’s night. For Brian and I, we started to fall more and more in love with one another over the next year. At the end of 2014 my uncle unexpectedly passed away and it was a very difficult time in my life. Brian and I have discussed that going through that low point in my life definitely was the time that we realized we love each other. We realized that we wanted to have the other person there with us to go through all of life’s ups and downs. Fast forward a few years, we did a lot of exciting things including me graduating with my undergraduate degree and then doctorate, Brian starting a new job, and traveling all over the world. In January 2017, Brian suggested that we go to a jewelry store to start looking at rings (!!!). He custom designed my ring, which is the most gorgeous ring in the world. It means so much to me that he designed it with me in mind. In May 2017, we travelled to Alaska to visit Brian’s best friend (and best man) and his wife – both friends from Western Illinois. On our second day in Seward, Alaska, we went on a wildlife and glacier boat tour. It was by far the coldest, rainiest, and windiest day with 9+ foot swells forecasted. On the boat ride out to the glacier (the half way point), I started to feel seasick. I sat outside while everyone else sat inside the warm hub of the boat. I took some ginger pills and ginger ale and started to feel better as the waves calmed down and we made our way to the glacier. Little did I know, Brian was planning to propose in front of the glacier. We were getting our picture taken when he started to tell me how much he loves me and that he cannot wait to spend our lives together. I thought he was being silly and sort of ignored him at first because other people were waiting to have their picture taken. Brian’s friend Josh was videotaping and Laura was photographing the whole time. Then he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring to propose (it was hidden in Josh’s bag all day). Brian asked me to marry him and I said “yes!!!”. It was the happiest moment in our lives – albeit cold and wet. We celebrated that night by going out to a nice dinner. The next day we took engagement pictures around town in Seward and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. Laura is a professional photographer so we got some incredible pictures. Something that we love to do together is travel. We have travelled to Mexico, Alaska, Germany (Munich, near Frankfurt), Disney World, Paris, Iceland, Amsterdam, Prague, Salzburg, Venice, and Rome. We are planning to visit Africa for our honeymoon and hopefully also Brian’s family in Japan in 2019.