Wedding Date on May 30, 2020

Alyssa and Brandon’s story began August 20th, 2012. It was their first day of freshman orientation at Augustana College. They happened to be placed in the same peer mentor group, and the rest is history. Well… not exactly. “Big Brandon” and “Awesome Alyssa” were introduced to each other in a classic orientation ice breaker. From there, they became great friends, study-buddies, and plantonic confidants. They spent freshman and sophomore years of college studying/doing pre-med classes and homework together, watching One Tree Hill, and becoming, again platonic, best friends. During the summer before junior year, Alyssa returned home from a two week medical mission trip to Nicaragua to a celebration at her house. The night after the party, Brandon and Alyssa started to become more than just friends. They spent 5 hours on the phone that night and several nights following. Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it surprised both of them how natural each conversation was. They scheduled a date to make dinner (chicken fajitas) together once they got back to Augie for junior year. After this date, Brandon was officially smitten. It took a little work from Brandon to convince Alyssa he might be worth her while. During fall and winter terms at Augustana, their courtship continued. After many months of mutual pursuit, Brandon unfortunately broke his hand in Augustana’s conference basketball tournament, and decided to have surgery to fix it. Two days before, Alyssa had her wisdom teeth removed. Those two were a hurting unit! Alyssa (being the angel that she is) drove down to Augustana during break, with a swollen face, to take Brandon to his surgery. That night, after being heavily medicated and told not to make any rash decisions, he finally asked Alyssa to be his girlfriend. The two of them worked through the process of finishing college and applying to medical school together. After multiple interviews and lots of uncertainty, they were both accepted to A.T. Still University - Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine! They moved down to Missouri together during July 2017. Somehow, they have survived school together, well them and Bailey. He got adopted in July of 2018, and quickly became the MVP of their family. After finishing second year and board exams, they decided to reward themselves with a relaxing trip to the northeast. They ate great food, hiked beautiful mountains, drank great wine, and then spent a few very special nights in Cape Cod. After one beautiful morning relaxing on the beach, Brandon asked Alyssa if she wanted to go for a walk. While she thought she was posing for a picture overlooking the bay, Brandon was about to surprise her with the question of a lifetime. When she turned around, he was down on one knee...He proudly asked and she blubbered YES! They spent the rest of the day enjoying the beautiful sunshine, crying, reliving stories of their love, and reveling in the fact that they were ENGAGED.