It all started shortly after I graduated from St. John's. I had moved to Kansas City for work and found myself in a brand new part of the country with little to no connections. Eventually, like all true love stories, I was fortunate enough to meet Allison through the dating app, Bumble. At the time, Allison was attending the University of Kansas in Lawrence. I was somehow able to convince her to make a trip into Kansas City where we had a casual dinner planned at a burger spot downtown. Talking with Allison on that first night came easy, and I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to spend a night out on the town with this girl. I quickly learned about her wonderful, tight-knit family and their passion for Jayhawk basketball. Little did I know the latter subject would turn into countless future lessons on the rules of basketball, a completely foreign topic to this hockey-loving, Minnesota native.
Luckily for me, Allison and I continued to stay in touch, making trips back and forth between Kansas City and Lawrence where she would tour me around KU's campus and I would stretch paychecks on date nights in my new hometown. In my opinion, I think I really won her over with the Justin Bieber concert (my ace in the hole). Even after making another work-related move to Iowa in 2016, we continued to make 7 hour interstate trips to spend each weekend together. Through these continued trips, we eventually made introductions to our families and friends from back home. Getting to know these people that had such a hand in Allison's journey through life thus far only made it more clear that this was the girl I wanted to spend my life with.
Eventually, an opportunity to move back to Minnesota opened up, and Allison agreed to make the journey north with me. It was only too easy falling into rhythm living under the same roof, tackling life's ups & downs, and quickly learning that my housekeeping routines were not up to snuff. She's been my bedrock ever since, and no matter where we've set down roots, I've always been able to find unwavering support in Allison by my side.
As of late, New York City has been our home. This is where I finally worked up the courage to ask Allison to be my wife. January 20th, 2023. A day I will never forget.
It was the Fall of 2015 and I was entering my senior year at the University of Kansas. Fresh off a return from a summer internship in NYC, I was focused on enjoying my senior year and getting back to the city I loved. But everything changed on one night in December. It was December 12, 2015, which was the Saturday before finals week, and I was out with friends when I looked at my phone and had a new Bumble match from a guy named Miles. Later I would find out he had just set up his profile that day. For anyone that isn’t familiar with Bumble, the girl has to make the first move and the guy can’t send a message unless she says something first so I asked Miles to tell me Two Truths and a Lie about himself. To my surprise, him getting cornrows while studying abroad in Rome was not the lie, and I decided he seemed like someone I needed to get to know.
Because it was the start of Finals Week and I had my priorities straight (you’re welcome Mom & Dad), we had made plans to get dinner the following Friday in Kansas City. Little did I know at the time that my life would change for the better after that night. We sat and talked for hours, to the point that I had barely touched my mac n’ cheese that I ordered, and if you know me you know how unheard of that is. Following dinner at BRGR, we figured out we both had friends at Harpo’s so we met them there and as they say, the rest was history. The next few months were full of date nights, sorority date parties and KU basketball games. Once Miles had gotten the hang of basketball, we decided to up the stakes of our March Madness brackets and that’s where the prized Justin Bieber tickets came into play, which the loser had to buy (Miles).
Halfway through the spring semester, Miles’ job was moved to Iowa. We did long distance and added a lot of miles to our cars, as I had decided to stay in Kansas post grad. In my opinion, I think every couple should do long distance because it makes you truly appreciate your time together when you do have it. Then finally, in the fall of 2018, we moved to Minneapolis! After spending so many years out of his home state, it was important for Miles to move back and be closer to family and I was happy to be invited to tag along.
Needing a change of pace and scenery, we now call NYC home but we are so excited to eventually be back in Minneapolis closer to family. What better way to start our marriage than to commit ourselves to each other in the city we will call home.