It all began with Ryan’s Creighton Bluejays. Of course it did.

In March of 2023, Ryan crisscrossed the country to follow Creighton’s Elite Eight run, which happened to begin in Denver, home to a girl far out of his league named Erin.

After a few beers, Ryan made a irresponsible very wise decision to change his location on Hinge and see what the Mile High City’s dating scene had to offer. The rest is history. Two dog-owning, travel-loving progressive Catholics searching for love? “It’s a match!” according to the “dating app designed to be deleted” ™.

Erin and Ryan spent the next year traveling between Colorado and Minnesota, with some unforgettable trips to Oregon, New Zealand, Turks and Caicos and Italy (of course) in between. (Have we mentioned points and miles?)

Eventually, Ryan and his golden retrievers, Jay and Pinot, joined Erin and her pup, Barry, in Denver. Shortly thereafter, Erin invested in a high-end Dyson pet vacuum. And shortly after that, Ryan surprised Erin with a trip to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where he popped the question at beautiful San Josef Bay. Fortunately, she said yes and now we’ll all get to celebrate with a few of those Aperol spritzes (see left) together!