This is a classic story of boy meets girl, and girl proceeds to play hard to get for a year even though she was totally in love with him for like 6 of those 12 months.

In August of 2019, I met Amber in a total dive bar called Jester's. From the moment I laid eyes on her I was enamored with her beauty, and pleasantly surprised that she laughed at my terrible jokes.

I could tell that night that she was totally into me, even if her face and the way she said that she "wasn't interested" was telling a different story.

A month later on September 21st, I was out celebrating my birthday and ran into Amber again at a restaurant where she was waiting tables. Suddenly a paper airplane came crashing onto my table. It was from Amber and it said "Happy Birthday". With some nudging from my good friend Seth and a little help from my liquid courage, I put my number on the paper airplane and threw it back.

Due to powers outside of my control I lost Amber's number shortly after that night (true story). But never fear! Just like every good Hallmark movie, two months later I would have a shot at redemption. After running into her at a Christmas party and winning her over with my karaoke rendition of Nickelback's 'Rockstar', she gave me her number for a second time. She also agreed to a sushi date. (and yes, it was totally a date)

And so began our amazing... friendship. Oh yeah, she shot me down hard. But remember, this is a success story so hang in there, it's about to get good!

While Amber was keeping me firmly in the friend zone, I happened to make another friend too. This is Liam, and the same way that it was hard to believe any of that ice cream was going to make it into his mouth, it was even harder to not fall head over heels for that wonderful boy. We became fast friends. And for me, that was the beginning of the end.

In December of 2020, Amber finally asked me to be her boyfriend. I said no. Two days later I asked her to be my girlfriend, and thank God she said yes.

Meet Loki. He's a Chesapeake Retriever, and the second installation in our family. Amber got him a little before she met me, but he totally loves me more. Even if he acts like she's his favorite whenever she's around.

We went on a lot of adventures our first year. We took this one in Yellowstone when we went on an impromptu trip one weekend.

And our relationship went to new heights!

Like any couple trying to figure out life together, we had disagreements and problems to work through our first year. But at the end of the day, we were the best of friends, and there wasn't a mountain we couldn't climb together.

Year two brought us closer to each other and our friends, who have been an amazing blessing in our life.

It also taught us that the war on gravity can be a losing battle at times.

We were able to get out on some family camping trips, and even though Liam and I are excellent at fishing, turns out we still have some work to do when it comes to catching the slippery devils.

Liam discovered snapchat filters

And the magic of a mid-afternoon nap

Year three found us praying together, meal prepping together, crushing trivia nights together, and crossing a lot of movies off the 'Amber needs to watch this' list. We still have a long ways to go on that list, but we are slowly working our way through. If only re-runs of The Office weren't so fun to watch.

Liam has been kicking butt on the soccer team for two seasons now, and is definitely doing better at getting the ice cream in his mouth rather than around it.

In July 2023, Amber and I found our first place that we would call home together. It didn't come with a built-in pool, but luckily Liam is good at improvising.

In October we decided to foster a kitten for a weekend...

Needless to say we fell in love with the little crack head, and thus Percy became the third installation to the family.

We celebrated our first Christmas as a family last year.

And even though the fall was a busy time, we were still able to get out for our annual ice fishing trip. Amber's a regular Tanya Harding on the ice, definitely glad we're on the same team.

On 04/14/24, after having the ring burn a hole in my pocket for 2 long months, I made the easiest decision of my life and asked Amber to marry me. I believe her exact words were... well I'll be honest I blacked out for most of that interaction but when I came to we were both crying and the ring was on her finger. I took that as a yes, and she has yet to correct me!

And don't worry, I asked Liam if it would be alright if I married his mom. He said it was fine, as long as I stopped eating all of his fruit snacks.

We've built an incredible friendship over the last 4 years.

We're soup snakes. Because in terms of the soup... we...never mind that doesn't make sense.

We're soul mates. And we are beyond excited to see all of you in May as we take the next step in the rest of our lives together. See? I told you, totally a success story.