According to Austin, he has been "in love" with Rachel since she first walked into his fraternity party at Michigan State University in 2008. Fast forward 14 years later, Austin and Rachel ran into each other again in November 2022 when Austin was picking up friends from yet another party that Rachel was attending (surprise surprise) and realized this was his chance to express his undying love ;). He let her in on his secret admiration and about 2 months later, they were officially dating and went on their first trip together in Park City, UT.

Over the next year, they committed to each other and made many long-distance trips to see each other, as Rachel was in Colorado and Austin was in Michigan.

Despite the difficult decision of leaving Colorado, Rachel moved back to her home state of Michigan to be with Austin in October 2023, where they would be surrounded by their families and some of their closest friends.

In December 2023, just about 1 year later after they "re-met", they went on a magical trip to visit Rachel's brother and sister-in-law, Jake and Grace, in Bermuda. After a day filled with activities, including brunch, pickleball, paddle boarding, and playing frisbee, Rachel was ready to relax. Austin had another plan and really needed Rachel to go for a walk with him. With strong encouragement from her brother, Jake (who knew of the plot), she agreed to peel herself from her lounge chair and go on the walk. Thank God she did.

Austin proposed to Rachel on a cliff at the Bermuda Princess Hotel's private beach, overlooking the ocean, with Jake and Grace as their stealth photographers in the background. They celebrated with champagne, watching the lions game, and a lovely dinner with many martini toasts that evening.

They now live together in Grosse Pointe Park with their perfect doggy, Delilah. They are eagerly counting down the days until they can celebrate this beautiful and long awaited time in their lives, alongside two of the most cherished things in their lives - their family and friends.