Love Stories

Abby + Connor

Abby and I met in a muggy weightroom the summer before our freshman year at Shepherd High School. What followed was about two years of mutual friendships and awkward conversations. That was until junior year homecoming, where Abby was looking for a football jersey to wear for the football game that Saturday. She asked me for mine in our shared math class that afternoon. She also offered me her jersey so I could wear it to the volleyball game. From there, the spark was lit and never went out. From small town Montana to separate universities 1,500 miles apart, and finally experiencing college life together in Dickinson for the last 3 or so years.

The engagement was on Memorial Day, May 25th, 2026. Abby and I were heading back from a Memorial Day service and BBQ that Abby’s parents put on every year. We were on the way to my house, where I planned to take Abby on a walk and pop the question. But first I would have to clear a few obstacles, one being that as soon as we entered the house a foot tall paper bag marked “RIDDLE’S” was sitting on the counter. But after a not-so-subtle grab and toss of the bag we were off on our walk. The second obstacle? It may have been 100 degrees outside. Abby made this well known to me, many times, but I insisted that we keep walking until we got to this small pond just off the bike path. Once there, we admired the seemingly hundreds of turtles that were in the pond. Abby was very hot and was practically begging to start back home while I was trying to find a way to get Abby’s back turned so I could get down on a knee. I finally accomplished this by agreeing to walking back, getting behind her, and pretending to drop something and pick it up. I said “Abby, will you marry me?” to which Abby did not give a clear yes or no, but instead an “Oh my gosh Connor!” We hugged for a long time, and one of us cried (I won’t tell you which one).

We’re looking forward to having our families and friends come together in such a stunning location! We’re most excited about the hassle-free setup and takedown so we and the wedding party can focus on enjoying the big day!