In honor of Valentine’s Day, HCKU has decided to feature a couple every day of the week leading up to Valentine’s Day! Call it corny if you must, but I’ve grown to be slightly obsessed with each couple, as they are all wonderful and unique in their own way. We hope you enjoy their stories, regardless if you’re into Valentine’s Day or not. Everyone likes a good love story, right?
Names: Laura Lyndall Fagen & Alex Winzenburg
Year in School: Junior
Majors:
L: Strategic Communications & Theatre
A: Geography
Relationship Status: Dating
How Long Have You Been Together? One year and four months
Campus Activities:
L: Her Campus KU Campus Correspondent/Editor-in-Chief; KU Big Brothers Big Sisters Executive Director; Center for Community Outreach Helping Unite Generations Coordinator
A: Livin’ the dream
Off Campus Activities:
L: Big Sister with BBBS of Douglas County, Volunteer at the Lawrence Humane Society, Receptionist for the KU Design Department, Student Assistant for KU Office of Public Affairs, Communications Intern with Kansas Action for Children
A: Dog Care Attendant at the Lawrence Humane Society, Proud Dog Owner, Avid Film Connoisseur (Read: I watch a lot Netflix).
Turn-Ons:
L: Humor, great smile, intelligence
A: Humor, hardworking, love KU basketball
Turn-Offs:
L: Someone who lacks passion and kindness.
A: Not being nice to animals & Mizzou grads.
Okay, give me the story. How’d you two meet? We met through a friend. Laura and her roommate were planning to go bowling with a friend from the 4th floor of McCollum and his guy friends. Alex happened to be one of them! We continued to hang out the rest of the semester and got together in October the next year.
Favorite thing about the other person:
L: Alex makes me laugh more than anyone in the world. Just filling out the survey, he was making up ridiculous stories.
A: Laura is the sweetest person I’ve ever met, she’d do anything for just about anyone and always wants everyone to be happy. She literally can’t say no.
Favorite piece of clothing on the other:
L: Nice jeans and a button-up!
A: This KU dress she wears to a lot of the games.
Weirdest thing about the other person:
L: Alex hates having lotion on his hands, so he won’t ever help me put any on.
A: She hates snow and anything cold and won’t leave the house at all if it’s too cold. I’m from Minnesota, so that’s just really weird.
Pet Peeves:
L: Laziness
A: Bad drivers
Favorite restaurant: El Mezcal
What’s your favorite thing to do together? Take Alex’s dog to the dog park
What’s a typical night look like for the both of you? Laura goes to meetings, comes home. We make food, do homework together, watch Netflix, and play with the puppy.
Who made the first move? L: I told him I liked him first and that kind of got the ball rolling. We had been friends for so long that it wasn’t anyone like actively pursuing the other.
Favorite physical feature of the other person:
L: His eyes
A: Her smile
If you could go on any vacation together, where would you go, what time of year, and why would you go there? We would go to Rio de Janeiro during Carnival (normally in Feb/March) because of all of the festivals and dancing and music and it would be really great. We’d also go back in June for the World Cup, just because Alex would love it.
What was it about him/her that really hooked you?
L: Alex was really caring and was helping me through a lot of stuff right before we got together. I knew I just wanted him in my life.
A: Laura is very fun to be around and always has great ideas for things to do.
First kiss: We started dating long-distance (he was in Minnesota and I was in Lawrence), so it was about two weeks after we starting dating that he came to visit me and it kind of just happened when we saw each other.
Take me through your first date: It was really not super exciting; that same night of the kiss, Alex was super hungry after driving for seven hours, so we went to Pyramid Pizza and got food around 10 o’clock at night.
Take me through your favorite moment together: We both agree that when we went to go adopt Koda was one of our best days. Alex had been looking for a dog for months and we had finally found the perfect one, but he had gotten sick and wasn’t adoptable for like a week. We were finally able to get him after waiting a while and it was a really great day!
Obviously, you’re still together because you really love each other, duh! But what has caused you to stay with one another? Because we provide a good balance each other, Laura gets things done and Alex provides a chill personality.
This is Valentine’s Day number what for you two? What have you done in the past? What do you have planned for this Valentine’s Day? This is our second Valentines Day. Last year we went to Bambino’s and had dinner the day after Valentines Day. This year we might go to see play and get dinner somewhere and just hang out with each other. We might go to the dog park the next day and get some exercise.
What’s one piece of advice you have to couples that are just starting out? Give us your wisdom! Don’t be afraid to do your own things, but make sure you always have time for each other.