She was a girl from Midland, Michigan and he was a boy from Sharon, Connecticut. Josh joined the Navy in 2009 and went through Field Medical Training School with fellow Hospital Corpsman, Aaron Ullom, who was best friends with Alaura in High School. Although Josh and Aaron went to different units after school, they stayed in touch, even when both of them deployed to Afghanistan. After Josh came home from Afghanistan in 2011, he learned that Aaron had passed away in the line of duty. While attending Aaron's memorial service on Camp Lejeune, Josh and Alaura met and became quick friends. They drifted apart after a while and went on to live separate lives. Until..... Christmas Day, 2019 when he was sitting at the airport to fly back to California and received a message from her that simply said, "Hey! How have you been?" Since that text message, NOT ONE SINGLE DAY has passed without them talking with eachother. After about 9 months of daily chats from thousands of miles away, they decided that what they had became "a thing." They soon made plans to see eachother in person again and have been madly in love with eachother ever since. In 2022, while anchored in front of a tidewater glacier on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, the captain of a tour boat called Josh and Alaura to the bow of the ship. In front of all the passengers and crew, Josh dropped to one knee and asked her the question of all questions. She said yes!

Since the engagement, they have been living in Washington and exploring the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest. They have been going through marriage preparation with the wonderful Parish community at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Washington and they cannot wait to receive the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony at St Brigid of Kildare Catholic Church in Alaura's hometown of Midland in front of their friends and family!