The first time he saw her at the gym, he knew he had to speak to her – no matter how many trips that necessitated to the water fountain next to her treadmill.

What neither of them knew then was that they'd lived down the street from one another for most of their existence, totally unaware that such an important piece of their future resided within walking distance. And suddenly it was within sight, as well, in that two-week span they traded not-so-subtle glances.

Finally, on the day she made a point to slow to a walk and take out an earbud – making it abundantly clear as he approached her treadmill that she was ready for him to make a move – that future found its footing. And for Lauren Johnson and Daniel Bradley, nothing has been the same since.

This start to their story came in August 2009, as did their first date. Daniel picked Lauren up in a little Audi A4 – with his Great Dane, Morgan, sticking out both sides. They hit the dog park in Blue Springs, Missouri, before returning their rather large chaperone to Daniel’s place and continuing the date with dinner at Olive Garden, then a movie with friends.

They clicked in that way that can’t be fabricated, with their quirks perfectly complementing each other’s.

“I always joke that we have a similar disdain for people,” Daniel says. “We get along really well.”

This connection made an immediately serious relationship inevitable. But because they were young – both still in college at the time – theirs was a seriousness that assumed a future together without rushing the next step.

“We would have reassuring conversations – like ‘You’re at least thinking I’m the one, right?’ – when friends would get married,” Lauren says. “But marriage wasn’t something we pushed on each other.”

Of course, other important conversations preceded those. Like when they were ready to trade “I love yous” for the first time in the fall of 2009, and in the intensity of that moment, Lauren added a little something extra to hers.

“I love you … like cheese,” she told Daniel – creating a catch phrase of sorts that’s stuck with them since.

Lauren + Daniel

- from unknowing neighbors to newlyweds-to-be -

By Erin Wisdom-Watson

"I always joke
that we have a similar disdain for people.
We get along really well."

So did the love, which kept them together as they finished college and began careers. It saw them through moving in together yet still being apart often, due to the amount of travel Lauren did in the first year of her job. And later, when they decided to forego their apartment in favor of their respective parents’ homes as they saved to buy a house, their connection also survived their different addresses.

Thus, it was no surprise that by the spring of 2016, Daniel had a ring and was ready to pop the question. 

“I had all sorts of plans on what I wanted to do, all of them nice and sappy,” he says. “But nothing came together quite perfectly.”

Finally, on June 3, a plan did come together. It wasn’t the one he’d initially intended for that evening, as he wasn’t able to convince Lauren to go bowling – during which he’d feign injury and fall to his knees, then have a ring in hand when she came to check on him. Instead, he improvised during a walk along Brush Creek after dinner on the Plaza in Kansas City, convincing Lauren they should look under a bridge for a “special rock.”

“It’s right here,” he told her, down on one knee with what truly was a special rock ready for her when she turned around.

“I started laughing, because I was just in shock,” Lauren says. 

But she also said yes – and with that, they left almost eight years of boyfriend/girlfriend status behind to become fiancés. 

When they went to set a wedding date, they knew one thing for certain: Baseball season would need to be over, because the last thing they wanted was to keep anyone – themselves included – from perhaps seeing the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. Thus, they opted for a date that couldn’t possibly conflict and settled on 11/11 as the perfect one.

They’ll tie the knot this November 11, 2017 at Brookside Gardens in Kansas City and are considering a honeymoon that would having them flying to California, then driving Highway 101 all the way to Canada.

This would incorporate a couple of their favorite things: road trips and simply being with each other – whether that’s at a Royals game or at a concert, in a car or simply at home.

“We’re very much homebodies, so we get along in that,” Lauren says.

She adds that they’re also on the same page about two other big things: money and kids. They hope to add the latter to their life relatively soon after marriage, knowing the foundation they’ve formed with each other is strong enough for a family.

As for what they appreciate most about each other: Lauren makes note of Daniel’s color-changing eyes, sarcastic sense of humor and skill for fixing things – whether that’s really good chicken or something that’s broken.

“I can always go to him,” she adds. “He’s very patient, and he’s very protective of me. Not too overbearing, just the right amount.”

And in her own way, she’s protective of him, as well.

“She always makes sure I’m taken care of,” Daniel says, adding that this shows in small ways – “like how she tickles my back like I’m a big baby” – as well as big ones, like how she was there for him after the passing of his twin sister in 2015.

“We’ve been together through it all,” Lauren adds – which seems like a pretty perfect launching point for the start of everything else. 

"I always joke that we have a similar disdain for people. We get along really well."