Sometimes love finds us in unexpected ways. This was certainly the case for Penn State alumni Brittany Greer and Michael Lytle.

The two first met in October 2008 during the fall semester of their freshman year at Penn State Behrend. Neither knew that the romance on which they would soon embark would change their lives forever.

Though their first official time meeting was a couple of months into the school year, it wasn’t the first time that Lytle noticed Greer. In fact, he had been courting his future fiancée since the very first week of school.

After noticing Greer at a dorm orientation session, Lytle was immediately smitten with the cute girl he’d spotted across the hall. Later that day he snuck a note under her dorm room door that read: “You’re cute. Call me.”

Greer found it ironic that the note contained a number with a 412 area code, but she laughed it off as a silly flirtatious venture and never made the move to call it.

Of course, that was until a few months later when a high school friend introduced the two at a party. As it turned out, Greer and Lytle were from neighboring high schools in Pittsburgh, so it made sense that a friendship might soon blossom.

Despite the many mutual connections they shared, Greer still wasn’t sold on starting a friendship — let alone a relationship — with someone she had just met and thought was very different from herself. But as luck would have it, the two eventually found themselves in the same friend group.

Soon they were hanging out all the time. Greer was eventually won over by Lytle’s persistence and charm, and the two made their relationship official in November 2008.

Fast forward 10 years, and the pair is happily engaged and more in love than ever.

“They are truly two peas in a pod. They mesh so well together as a unit but at the same time are very much their own unique individual selves,” said the couple’s longtime friend Chad Hanna. “They balance each other well and tears of laughter are sure to flow every time there’s a get-together.”

The wedding celebration will be this November, just two days after the anniversary of their decision to make things official way back in their freshman year of college. And as one might expect from a couple that has been together for so long, the story of the proposal that tied them together as fiancé and fiancée is just as sweet as the story of their love.

Over the years, Lytle tuned into the little things that Greer would point out. As friends were engaged and stories of proposals were shared, Greer would occasionally make comments about what she wanted for her own proposal.

“I had said I wanted the moment to be between the two of us so that I could freak out privately, but that it would be so cool to have a picture of it,” Greer said.

Lytle decided to take that tidbit and run with it. He arranged for the proposal to take place in the woods where the two were training for a race they were supposedly going to participate in the next day. He got Greer’s cousin to wait in a creek near the trail with a camera so she could snap a few pictures of the private moment.

Eventually, when the day of the proposal arrived, Lytle took Greer out to her favorite restaurant for brunch before they made their way to the Montour Trail to go for a walk. After a bit of walking, and convincing to check out the creek further off the trail, the two made their way down to the water’s edge.

Once they arrived at the creek, Lytle got down on one knee and popped the question.

“Instead of answering ‘YES!’ immediately, I began asking other questions in utter disbelief that this moment was actually happening – ‘Do people know?!’ ‘Did you ask my parents?!’ ‘Who knows we’re here?!'” Greer said.

But Lytle wasted no time answering her questions, and simply repeated his question again. Greer gave him a resounding yes before realizing that her cousin had been in the creek snapping pictures the entire time.

To make the already adorable proposal even better, when the two arrived home, Greer was greeted with a surprise party comprised of her closest friends and family — some of whom had come from out of state.

Lytle had planned a weekend full of activities and fun for the two to enjoy with friends and family. It was the perfect way to celebrate the many years they had already spent together.

“If I ever questioned whether I was marrying the right person, or if there was any doubt left in my mind that we were meant to be together, the surprise proposal that Michael pulled off confirmed that we were ready and that this was our perfect timing,” Greer said.