After a soccer practice in 2011 at Lied Recreation Athletic Center, junior defender Megan Long walked out to her car only to see a yellow parking ticket placed underneath her windshield wipers.

Thinking, ‘but I have a pass,’ Long was pleasantly surprised as she opened the yellow envelope and found an invitation to Aunt Maude’s restaurant from her boyfriend Joey Longobardi, senior in kinesiology.

After dinner, Longobardi pulled out a stack of note cards and told Long they were going on a scavenger hunt.

“We went to places that were significant in our relationship,” Long said.

One card read: “What did I get to eat at Coldstone on our first date?”

Long, junior in dietetics, knew the answer. It was a mint chocolate chip milkshake.

A few more stops and the pair ended up at Stomping Grounds — the restaurant where, as a freshman, Long sipped a sugar-free vanilla latte and Longobardi officially asked her to be his girlfriend. He pulled out another card, and it asked where the tradition of kissing at midnight was.

The pair found themselves underneath the Campanile, where Longobardi pulled out one final card, which read: “Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be united with his wife.”

Longobardi dropped to one knee, pulled out a green box and asked Long to marry him.

“Her face lit up, and then it was just instant tackle,” Longobardi said. “She didn’t even look at the ring for five minutes.”

Long said she didn’t cry, because she was just so excited. She said she had no clue he was going to propose.

The proposal came just one year after they first met. 

The couple met in 2010 while on a trip with the Salt Company to volunteer in Haiti after an earthquake had struck.

Longobardi said he remembers seeing Long and thinking she was the most gorgeous girl.

“I thought she was way out of my league,” Longobardi said.

Flash forward more than two years and the invitations are out. The date is set for May 19. Long will walk down the aisle wearing her mother’s modernized A-line, lace wedding dress at First Christian Church in downtown Ames.

Both Long and Longobardi have felt the pressure as they plan their wedding, study for school and participate in countless activities.

“There’s really just not enough time in the day,” Long said.

As a defender for the Iowa State soccer team Long dedicates several hours to practice, sometimes getting up at 5:15 a.m. to make it to 6 a.m. weightlifting.

Longobardi also dedicates much time to practice as a member of the women’s basketball scout team, in which the women’s team plays against him in preparation.

Both Long and Longobardi love sports. The two love to watch basketball and football games together.

Longobardi said he’s been to 75 percent of Long’s soccer games.

“I’ve made a few trips around the country,” Longobardi said of traveling to her soccer games.

Besides playing sports, they’re both involved in club activities.

Long is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Longobardi is involved in leadership for the Salt Company, works as a server at The Café and does research on exercise physiology.

“There are days when I’m like, ‘I’m never going to get it finished,’” Long said of the wedding planning. “My fiancé is really good about keeping me sane. He’s the level-headed one when I get emotional.”

Long’s mother, Lynn, said when the two are together they are very relaxed, which she said is good since they have such “crazy, hectic schedules.”

“People thinks it’s crazy with them getting married [while] still in school,” Lynn said. “But when you find that right person and the perfect match, why wait?”

Lynn said her and her husband, Dwight, love Longobardi and are excited to have him join the family.

“No one’s going to be good enough for your little girl, but Joey comes just about as close as anybody who walks this earth, because he does all the right things,” Lynn said.

Lynn said Dwight admires Longobardi’s ability to play basketball.

Despite their busy schedules, Long and Longobardi still manage to find time together, whether it is tuxedo fittings, cake tastings or even just kicking a soccer ball around.

“I thought I was in love with her the first day I met her,” Longobardi said. “It’s just been growing over time, the first day I thought I had that feeling, but more and more I realize it gets deeper everyday.”