About Erin
Erin grew up in South St. Paul before going to University of St. Thomas to study Community Health Education and Family Studies. She graduated in 2011. In August 2011, she went to serve as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow for a year at The LAB at Journeys Secondary School in St. Paul, MN. After serving in AmeriCorps, Erin was hired to stay at The LAB as a Creative Arts Specialist, and then eventually the Direct Service and Volunteer Coordinator. When Erin isn’t busy working for The LAB, she also works part time for Energy Resources and volunteers several hours per year at the MS Society, Upper Midwest Chapter. In the little free time she has left, she likes to spend time cooking and baking, crafting, drinking coffee, reading, watching movies, and spending time with friends and family.
About Craig
Craig grew up in Duluth, MN and then moved to Eden Prairie, MN before attending the University of St. Thomas to study Electrical Engineering, Physics and Computer Science. He graduated in 2011. In June 2011, he went to work for Rosemount, a division of Emerson Process Management, as a Project Software Engineer. He is also co-founder of Xatik Group, a company that focuses on making Android Apps. His most recent projects include “The Man Test”, “Droid Draw”, and “Hero Helper”. Craig also enjoys playing video games, programming, and tinkering around on his computer. When he isn’t busy doing all of that, he also enjoys eating the food that Erin cooks, watching movies, and spending time with his friends!
About US!
Erin and Craig first met briefly in Spring of 2008 at University of St. Thomas, where they both went to school, through their mutual friend- Emily. The first time they met, they were both in other relationships, and it would be over 6 months before they saw each other again. Then, in September 2008, Erin and Craig both attended the Motion City Soundtrack concert on the UST campus with a large number of mutual friends. After the concert, a bunch of people were headed back to Erin’s apartment to hang out. Emily (their mutual friend) was walking back with them. Craig, being a typical male and noticing a large group of girls, asked Emily if he could tag along for the night. Emily said yes. Long story short, Erin and Craig hit it off almost immediately and after a few dates the two of them were practically inseparable. Erin and Craig continued to date for nearly 5 years while at St. Thomas and after they graduated.
Erin and Craig right after Craig proposed!
The Proposal!
In summer of 2012, Erin and Craig were scheduled to go on a trip to Canada with Craig’s family in August. Craig kept dropping hints that it was possible he was going to propose in Canada. So on July 28th, when Craig asked Erin to go out to dinner with his mom and her dad, Erin didn’t think a whole lot about it. Craig is Korean, and in Korea, it is tradition that the male will ask both his parents and her parents for permission to marry. Erin assumed that Craig was going to ask for permission to propose. They went out to Kubuki to eat and as soon as they sat down everyone was acting really strange. All of the sudden, Craig was down on one knee proposing to Erin and Erin and everyone else in the restaurant was crying. But, after a few more moments, Craig was still waiting for a response! Erin finally managed to shake her head and eventually say yes!
Erin’s Mom’s Ring
The Ring
What made the moment even more special to everyone was the fact that Craig had managed to sneak away that night and had gotten Erin’s mom’s ring from her dad. It had been Erin’s dream to wear her mom’s ring ever since she passed in 2011, and it is such a blessing that they were able to receive such a special gift from Erin’s dad to help them begin their new life together. They decided not to separate the wedding band from the engagement ring.