On my (Izzy's) third day on campus—before classes had even begun—there was a meeting for all the new track and field athletes. That’s when I first saw Tyler, standing against a wall with a few other nervous-looking track freshmen. I grabbed my roommate's hand, dragged her over, and introduced myself to him.

Tyler, on the other hand, doesn’t remember this moment at all. Now, after knowing him for almost 10 years, I realize how introverted he naturally is—and I see that he was probably just trying to survive the crowd. His first memory of me is later that week at a track get-together when I stole his hat and wore it all night (I might have had a little crush).

As freshman year went on, we had the same classes, the same friend group, and we often saw each other at practices. Eventually, we became really close friends (I even introduced him as my "track brother" a few times)—until something changed, and we started hanging out more, just the two of us.

And then, on May 1st, 2016—right at the end of freshman year—Tyler asked me to officially become his girlfriend. Cute, huh? I guess you can get out of the friend zone in some stories.

Since then, we’ve grown up together.
We’ve cheered each other on through college. We did long distance when Tyler moved to Rochester and I stayed at UND to finish my fifth year. When I graduated in 2020, I moved down to Rochester, and we’ve been building our life together ever since.

We have a very full but happy house with our two cats, one very large dog, and an ever-rotating lineup of foster pups.

And almost exactly a decade after that first track team meeting, we’re getting married—officially tying the knot before hitting the ten-year mark.

The Story of us.

It all started back in 2015, when two freshmen showed up at the University of North Dakota.