From friends to fiancés

Our Story

Where our story begins…

Elk Rock Island on the Willamette River

We both attended the same university here in Portland, and hung out with a lot of same people. We’d crossed paths quite a few times throughout college and in the years after, until one day in late Spring 2017, when our paths crossed again and this time we truly had the time to connect during a nice day on the Willamette River with a small group of friends. We both left that day with a mutual interest in getting to know each other more, and our summer love blossomed from there!

Sarah’s Story

Kyle and I first met as undergrads at Portland State, where we were part of the relatively small group of students who actually lived near campus. Since there weren’t many of us, overtime the friend circles slowly started to overlap, and before long, it felt like we all knew each other—either directly or through mutual friends. We hung out with a lot of the same friends and crossed paths quite a few times throughout college and in the years after. For some reason though, despite having bumped into Kyle so many times throughout the years while at different parties or out with friends - we never really took the time to talk or get to know one another, and I could never remember his name.

That is, until one uncommonly sunny weekend in May 2017, when the warm weather drew us out to a day at the river. My friends Connor and Michael arrived at my apartment to pick me up, and to my surprise, there was a third person in the car who I immediately recognized as that one guy from all those parties whose name I could never remember. As i got into the car, I remember deliberately thinking how that was the day I was finally going to learn who heck this guy was. The rest is history!

Kyle’s Story

Being a few years removed from college and spending much of fall and winter hanging out with newer friends from college I was asked on a Saturday night if I was interested in cooling off by the river following afternoon, and being young and single of course I said yes.

On our way to the river I notice we take an unfamiliar route and ask if there was anyone else joining and they said “Oh yeah we’re picking up Sarah!” and I thought… Sarah… I’m surprised I can’t remember who that is. So we pull up to Sarah’s apartment and she walks out and I immediately recognize her, though not from a recent hangout, but from back in college! It felt like a great opportunity to actually chat and connect.

At the river we proceed to share stories and learn about each others lives. Needless to say, I was impressed and interested! After the river we grabbed food as a group an and the connection continued to grow. From there I was asking the guys when they wanted to hang out if they knew if Sarah would be joining or not.

It’s crazy how connections work with Sarah and I just being at the right place at the right time thanks to some of our closest friends. So thanks Mike and Connor for the unintentional setup!

Our Early Adventurers

At 24 and 25, our love kicked off during the prime energy of our mid-twenties. We went on plenty of adventures from an international trip to Canada, to Hawaii twice in a few months, and of course plenty of date nights out on the Portland city scene.

Within the first eight months of dating, we were lucky enough to get to visit Maui and Kauai twice within just a few months. It was the first time we really got to meet each other’s families, including much of my extended family at my cousin Maya and Ryan’s wedding. It was such a special way to start our journey together—what more could we ask for!
- Sarah

One of my favorite memories from the early part of our relationship was matching our halloween costumes! I had never done that before and felt exciting to be out with our friends together showing off our interest in each other.
- Kyle

Growing Better Together

We moved in together in the summer of 2018 and spent the next five years growing - and then out growing - our little one bedroom apartment. There, we went through Covid together, we brought a kitten into the family, and shared so many warm memories. We also took plenty of trips, including our first trip abroad, visited tons of new places, and saw plenty of our friends get married all while continuing to build our lives together.

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland. September 2019

Bus Tour, London England. September 2019

April, 22nd, 2023

The Engagement

Just after Kyle’s Birthday he planned a weekend getaway for us at a cute cabin up near Mt. Hood. He claimed it was a “late birthday present” but Sarah sniffed it out early thinking this could be the moment. Then on a perfect sunny spring Saturday we sat out by the Sandy river, sipping some mimosas and watching the birds fly by. Kyle asked to walk down a path along the river, and there we found a spot where we cozied up together and he popped the question!

And the rest is history!

We’ve been together going on 7 years now and have so many things to be grateful for in this life we’ve built.
We can’t wait to finally tie the knot together with all of our closest family and friends!

Much Love, Kyle & Sarah

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