Erin and Blake met at a New Year's Eve party on December 31, 2019 at the home of their dear friends, Wendy and Robert. As they celebrated the New Year that night, they shared many conversations that lit fireworks between them!

The next day, they exchanged phone numbers, and by that afternoon they already had plans for their first official date the following evening, January 2, 2020. It's pretty certain the phrase, "Is tomorrow too soon?" was involved.

They met for dinner, and because they did not want the night to end after they finished their meal, they walked to a nearby cocktail bar to continue the conversation. Erin and Blake talked until 2:00 am. Right away, they knew they had found something very special, and they decided they were 'serious' about each other. Erin and Blake toast their relationship every year on January 2nd, in celebration of the best first date ever.

Erin and Blake were quickly wrapped up in each other's lives. They met each other's friends and families, and they endured the pandemic quarantine together a mere ~2 months after meeting (a test of many relationships)! They welcomed their 30's together, they camped and traveled together, they celebrated their friends' and families' milestones together, and after a while, they couldn't imagine life without one another.

On Christmas Day, 2023, Blake surprised Erin with a beautiful Christmas card with a keepsake ornament. In the card, he wrote a sweet note, followed by the words, "Marry Christmas." It took Erin a moment to realize how he had spelled it. ;-) Blake asked Erin to hang the ornament on the tree, where Erin found the most beautiful diamond ring glistening on one of the branches. They spent the rest of the day celebrating with both of their families, and were very excited to enter 2024 as a newly-engaged couple.