Lindsey
I had dreamt about being in love my whole life, but in the Summer of 2023, I decided it was time to start taking it seriously. Before jumping into the deep end, I wanted to make sure I was ready. I spent 5 months rediscovering myself, getting clear on what I wanted, and reading. After finishing the book Honoring the Self by Nathaniel Branden (best book I’ve ever read, totally life changing, I highly recommend it), I realized I had been letting my life just happen to me instead of actually living it. I was a bystander in my own story. So, I decided to take control. I knew if I wanted love, I had to actively seek it. My dream man wasn’t going to just fall from the sky. So, I took the plunge and downloaded a few dating apps.
A week later, Emma, Sage, and I were scrolling on Hinge. Most of the profiles were getting lackluster responses from my friends. Sage was midsentence, describing the kind of guy she pictured me with when Dylan’s profile popped up. “LIKE HIM” she said. Dylan and I matched right away. We immediately bonded over personal growth, halloween costumes, and being business owners. He won me over by confidently taking initiative, making playlists to share with me, and indulging my shopping habits.
how we met
Dylan
Lindsey and I met on the dating app Hinge. Dating apps were an attractive option for me when looking for someone as due to the nature of being a business owner with no employees and hardly any coworkers, my “natural market” wasn’t that strong. I chose Hinge because the app advertised itself as more of as serious dating app, where the end goal was a long term relationship and ultimately marriage. I remember replying to a comment on Lindsey’s profile and after she matched with me a couple days later, our conversations took off from there. It was only a night or two of talking over the app that we not only exchanged phone numbers, but also when we had our first phone call. I remember the phone call lasted 3 hours and even on that call we discussed how Anson would be a good last name for her. This phone call led into us scheduling our first date only two days later.
Lindsey
Our first date was on November 22, 2023. The day before Thanksgiving. We had a date scheduled for that weekend, but after an amazing 3-hour phone call on Tuesday, we couldn’t wait to meet each other. I decided to rearrange my plans on Wednesday so we could have dinner together.
Dylan insisted on coming to Syracuse. It was very chivalrous of him, but it meant our only option was a local dive bar. As he pulled up in his mustang, I was so nervous. But as soon as he stepped out of the car, he completely disarmed me with his smile and with a bouquet of flowers. I still get butterflies every time he smiles at me (and gets me flowers).
To kill some time, we walked along the city’s historic main street, and we played pool at the bar (he let me win). When we sat down for dinner, he asked what I was having and then ordered for me, which made me feel like an absolute princess. And when I warned him I was weird and I liked to eat my fries with a fork, he unwrapped his silverware and matched my energy. He held every door. He always kept the conversations going. He impressed me at every turn, and he put me at ease.
We didn’t want the night to end, so I invited him to my parents’ house. He showed off his piano skills for me, and I absolutely swooned. We played a board game with my mom, and when she went to bed we went for a drive. We stayed out together until 3 am. I didn’t want to say goodbye. We made plans to see each other again on Friday, and on Saturday.
The next morning my mom, dad, and sister gathered around the kitchen counter eager to hear all about my date. I couldn’t stop smiling as I relived what had been the best night of my life so far. I deleted Hinge that same day, and I’ve never looked back.
our first date
Dylan
The day came for our first date and I remember I was so excited to see Lindsey that I left the office early to see her as soon as I could. We scheduled the date at a local restaurant/bar in downtown Syracuse. Being the town only has around 2,000 people, our choices weren’t that expansive or “fancy” so to speak. Regardless, I knew we would have a great time and make the most of what we were given. When we first met, the first thing I noticed was not only how attractive she was, but her beautiful smile. It lit up the whole town. We first walked around downtown Syracuse and she gave me some backstory on the town, showed me the library and other buildings, and then headed into B&Js for some classy pool. After self-defeating myself by sinking the 8 ball twice in a row, Lindsey claimed victory over the pool games (even though I was technically way ahead and shot myself in the foot). After pool, we sat down and Lindsey ordered only fries (with a fork because she hates touching food) and I got the chicken sandwich. Her cup had a hole in it and she loved how I went out of my way to ask for a new one. Afterdinner, we went back to her parents’ house where I met her parents on the first date which I remember questioning if that was way too soon or not, but turns out it worked out just fine!
Lindsey
our first "i love you"
Dylan
In the summer of 2024, Dylan and I took a trip to South Dakota with some of my friends. On June 22nd, we all went to Sioux Falls National Park. There are dozens of viewing platforms all along the falls and the scenery is spectacular from every single one of them. Dylan and I found one mostly to ourselves, and he held my hand as I watched in awe as the water churned and crashed over the rocks. I was mesmerized by the movement and the mist.
Dylan leaned in for a kiss, and as he pulled away he said “I love you”. I have to admit, I had almost accidentally let it slip that I loved him a handful of times over the past month, so before I even registered what he said I responded reflexively “I love you, too.” But as his words started to sink in, I realized the gravity of that milestone. I couldn’t believe that Dylan managed to make an already magical moment that much more meaningful.
Before I ever told Lindsey out loud, I knew I loved her way before that moment. We took a trip up to South Dakota to visit her and her sister’s long-time friends. I knew I would say those words on this trip, but the specifics were still unknown to me. We went see to see the waterfalls/river in the middle of this South Dakota city. I thought the moment was right and then, being super nervous, I said it to her. Her immediate reply being “I love you more.” Immediately one upping me which is the Lindsey way. She then said a proper “I love you, too." back.
Lindsey
our engagement
Dylan
Eight months before our engagement, on September 5th of 2024 (6 days before Dylan had officially bought his Porsche), he told me he had been thinking about taking couples photos with the new car. Less than a month later, I sent him some pictures of me trying on a gorgeous red backless dress I had ordered for no particular occasion. He told me I looked stunning and that it would look killer for the Porsche pictures. I was worried it would be too fancy, but he responded with “Nah, I’ll figure out something to match it”. As a girl who has always been a little obsessed with fashion, that is still one of my favorite things Dylan has ever said to me.
The weather started to get colder, and we decided to push the photos to the spring. So, at the beginning of June 2025, when Dylan asked me if we could finally do our couples shoot with the Porsche on the 15th, I didn’t even think twice about it. That Sunday we got all dressed up and we met Chandler at Hummel Park. We drove out to the same spot Chandler had taken the very first photos of the Porsche that past fall.
As he started getting some test shots, Chandler told us he was having trouble getting the lens to focus. He asked if we could stand away from the car against the trees so he could “make sure he was getting the leaves in focus”. He also had Dylan stand behind me so he could “test the lens at different depths”. He instructed us to keep looking right at the camera because it had “face tracking software”. When I was finally able to turn around, it felt like time stopped. Dylan was on one knee, with a ring box open in his hand. He said, “Lindsey Bjork, will you marry me?”. With tears already welling up in my eyes, I said, “YES.” He slid the gorgeous marquise-cut diamond onto my finger. It was even more stunning than I had dared to hope for.
Chandler still managed to get quite a few good shots after that, even though I was shaking and crying. I will forever be grateful that he waited until I was composed to resume snapping pictures. At one point, I asked between sobs, “Did you still want to get some pictures with the car?” Dylan said he couldn’t care less about the car right now, but we did get a couple with it anyway.
Afterwards, Dylan took me to Cheddar's per my request, because all I wanted was spinach dip. Fun fact! We got engaged on my parents’ anniversary.
This was the biggest, most exciting, nerve wracking, and being honest terrifying moment of our relationship (in a good way). I always knew I wanted to marry “the one” and wanted to commit
myself to a person, but when the moment came where I was like “Lindsey IS the one”, it sank in that I’d actually be proposing to her. Picking out the ring was the easiest part, as I knew for a
long time she loved the simple platinum band with a large marquise cut diamond. I ordered the ring in late April of 2025 and got the ring 6 weeks later. During this time, Lindsey did bring up
ring shopping although she had no immediate expectation that I would be proposing. I had to agree and act like I hadn’t even considered a ring yet.
The first person to know was her sister, Emma. I showed Emma a picture of the ring during Lindsey’s dance recital in early May and she was so excited. I know I wanted to be traditional and what I believed to be the most honoring way to go about proposing which would be to ask for her parents’ blessing. The ring arrived in early June and I wanted to ask her parents for their blessing as soon as I could. I coordinated this with Emma to have both of her parents at home at the same time where I could ask for their blessing and show them the ring.
When I first arrived at her parents’ house, her mom, Traci, was the only one there and Kyle was on his way back home from work. I lied to Traci saying that I had a client meeting nearby and
wanted to stop in, just so I could surprise both her and Kyle at the same time. Kyle walks in, and after some small talk and me constantly fiddling with the ring case in my pocket, I said “I’m
sorry Traci, but I lied to you. The reason why I am here is to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage.” Both Kyle and Traci immediately teared up and seeing their reaction showed me that
they’d be honored to have me as a son-in-law. Not that I had any doubts, but seeing this come to fruition was fulfilling and how I hoped the moment would go.
I planned to propose roughly a week and a half from this moment on June 15 th . This was unplanned, but it turns out that this was also the wedding anniversary of her parents. The proposal worked out perfectly in the sense that 1) we’d both already be dressed up for the pictures and 2) Lindsey would have no idea. The original plan was to do a couples photo shoot with my Porsche (something we talked about for awhile and mainly a good reason to have good
photos with each other). My good friend and groomsman Chandler was taking the photos and knew all about it. The day comes of the photoshoot: Sunday, June 15 th . Lindsey didn’t eat all day
to “look skinnier” for the photos, while I didn’t eat all day because of the nerves.
It came time to drive to the photoshoot, which we chose Hummel Park where we had the first professional shoot of the Porsche done, and the nerves were getting worse and worse. We pull up to the spot with Chandler and he directs us to follow him to find a nice spot for photos. We find this little cul-de-sac area and to our dismay, people were having a picnic where I originally wanted to propose at. We decided to work with what we had. Chandler had a clever idea to distract Lindsey by saying “alright I am going to try this face tracking with this new lens so Dylan stand a few feet behind Lindsey and keep looking at the camera.” I walked to my spot, pulled the ring out of my pocket, and waited for Chandler to rope Lindsey into turning around. As soon as we made eye contact, I got on one knee and opened the ring box. Lindsey immediately started shaking and crying and was so blown away by it.
I am so incredibly blessed that Chandler was there to be able to capture the moment as it unfolded. Overall, the proposal worked out perfectly and knowing I will be marrying Lindsey makes me a tremendously happy, lucky, blessed, and fortunate man.
