Our Story
Although they cannot pinpoint an exact time, it's safe to say that Valerie and Erin met during their first semester in Chadbourne Hall at UW-Madison. The first extended conversation that Erin can remember happened during finals week and was about pre-test superstitions. Valerie shared that she always ate oatmeal before exams and taped an instant oatmeal pack to Erin's door for good luck. After a rough first set of finals Erin never ate oatmeal before exams again.
After hanging out more second semester, Erin finally asked Valerie on a dinner date to the Flat Top Grill in Madison. Everything went smoothly and they made things official shortly after. Over the next 5 1/2 years they enjoyed spending time together attending dozens of Badger games, hanging out with the same friend group, and even just studying together. They managed to stay close despite living farther and farther apart as they went from just down the hall, to living in apartments 1 mile apart, to living in cities 100 miles apart.
With Valerie approaching one year in her post-graduate career, Erin planned a weekend trip to Madison to catch up with friends and visit some of their favorite places. The weekend started with a great Friday night with friends at the Memorial Union Terrace. On Saturday, August 1st, they grabbed a breakfast of hot & spicy cheese bread and walked around the Madison farmers' market. After that they walked through the Henry Vilas Zoo that they had visited numerous times as students.
In their first year of dating they found a sunflower field in peak bloom on the way up to Door County. While planning the weekend, Erin found a sunflower field just outside of Madison that was open to the public. After the zoo, they drove out to walk around the sunflowers. It was slightly before the peak bloom, but the scenery was still beautiful. Erin proposed to Valerie here and she said yes!!
