Believe it or not, we grew up in the same town and had many of the same friends, but we never met until college. We met through a mutual friend, Xandie, who Matt knew from high school and who shared a dorm room with Amy. One night in October the three of us went to go see the movie "Training Day," starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Let's be clear: it's not a date movie. Yet, it turned out to be our first unofficial date.

Our first official date was at Martini's restaurant in Kalamazoo. While sitting in front of a large window looking out onto Westnedge Avenue, one of the city's busier streets, we saw a dog wandering in the middle of the road. Amy claims she will always remember Matt running outside in order to rescue the dog. Matt maintains he could have never finished his meal if something would have happened to the dumb beast.

Over time, we discovered that we have a lot in common: a love of 80's and Mel Brooks movies, esoteric verbiage, dogs, road trips chock full of opportunity to rock out, spending time at the beach, kayaking, playing Euchre, trying new restaurants, playing board and video games, etc. We've been fortunate enough to travel together both across the U.S. and Western Europe and found that we love to travel, especially with each other.

After six years together, Matt thought it was (Amy note: about freaking) time to stop living in sin and make an honest woman out of Amy.

To celebrate our six year anniversary, we went "up North" to the Hopkins' cottage in Onekama, MI. Completely unbeknownst (Matt note: yeah... riiiight) to Amy, Matt had an engagement ring in his pocket. The diamond in the ring belonged to Amy's grandmother Louise, and later, her step-grandmother Fran. Matt was able to coax it away from Amy's father, Yo-Yo, after a nervous conversation that will forever be known as "The Refrigerator Conversation."

On a Friday night in November, we went out to dinner at the historic Tuscan Grille in Manistee, MI. After a lovely dinner served to us by an oddly hostile waitress, we had a conversation that neither one of us can remember (Matt note: it was probably smooth, though). At the end of the conversation, Matt pulled the ring out of his pocket and popped the question.

Amy:

Amy is a graduate of Kalamazoo Central High School, and Kalamazoo College. She majored in Classics and Ancient Greece, and spent her junior year abroad in Ireland, studying Classics at Trinity College in Dublin. Amy's favorite things are spending time with family and friends, playing with the dogs, cooking, reading, playing board games with Matt, and going to the cottage and the beach.

Matt:

Matt is a graduate of Loy Norrix High School and the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center. At Western Michigan University he double majored in Math and Spanish. Matt got his masters in Industrial Math from Michigan State University. Matt's favorite things are playing with the dogs, reading, playing video games, and yelling at the Detroit Lions.