Through divine intervention and mutual friends, we met on July 4th, 2022. After sitting on the bank of the Missouri River in Old Town St. Charles watching fireworks, Chris asked me to dinner the next night. We haven't gone a day without talking since!

After 10 months of long-distance dating, lots of plane rides, and many dinners over Facetime, we were finally in the same state. We joked that after surviving a straight 13-hour drive from Denver to St. Louis in a U-HAUL, we could survive anything. We spent the next year and a half proving that we did in-fact survive that long drive and making more wonderful memories along the way.

In September of 2024, Chris asked if I could help out a family friend who does photography. She wanted to try shooting at a new place, and we hadn't taken many photos since Chris moved from Denver. After getting over my slight hesitation due to being camera-shy, I agreed to take some pictures on the condition of getting ice cream afterwards.

Fast forward to October 26, 2024. We go to take pictures in Old Town. Walking from picture spot to picture spot, I gripped Chris's hand a little tighter every time we'd go through the large crowd out on the street due to it being Halloween Weekend. Thankfully the photographer suggested we go to the river where it was quieter. After a few more pictures, the place where Chris was originally going to propose was no longer an option due to a man in a very large green Furry-Fox costume occupying the space. So, we moved further to the riverbank where we had met two years earlier. A few snapshots with the river as the backdrop later, I turned around to see Chris holding a ring and a note I had written him our first year of dating. I awkwardly squeaked out, "Oh, we aren't just taking pictures, are we?" Chris asked, I said yes, and there we were with a man in green Furry-Fox costume forever a part of our engagement story.

Chris planned a wonderful, private dinner with family and friends afterwards. I don't know how he managed to get the people I love from three different states all together at the same time, but I'm forever grateful that he did!

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our story so far, and to those who will be celebrating with us in May!

-The (soon to be) Godwins