the year was 2016. like many love stories, theirs starts at a party in college. alex was the event planner for her sorority and ethan was attending the event with a friend. their memories of this night differ but as luck would have it, they struck up a conversation via Instagram DMs weeks after they initially met.

in september of 2016, at a brad paisley concert on the law school hill at wvu, ethan asked alex to be his girlfriend and set into motion a relationship that would change their lives. they spent many nights at their favorite morgantown spots like fat's & joe's (& some of which, unfortunately, are no longer around -- rip bent willey's, sports page and back door).

after graduating from wvu, alex left for her first job in charleston while ethan continued his education with a masters in business admin, the two meeting up on weekends for football games and nights out in charleston.

in 2019, ethan moved across the country to iowa for his first job (and really, his first love) in NASCAR. the long distance relationship continued and was supported by many facetime dates and long weekend flights.

2020 came around and the world changed, but alex and ethan's relationship did not (in fact, they lived together for a month during that time and managed to grow even closer in that tiny one-bedroom apartment). following his dreams, ethan moved to charlotte for career opportunities while alex continued to work in charleston, now in a remote position.

fast forward a few years (& few more thousand miles of travel in between) they called it quits on the long distance and, in november 2022, the two became roomies! they settled in kannapolis, nc (a self-declared Hallmark town) in a little house with a yellow door.

in this year, they traveled and laughed and grew together. they have a solid group of pals in the charlotte area that make it feel like home & visit west virginia as often as they can. during one of those wv trips, ethan got down on one knee and asked alex those few words she'd been waiting for (patiently).

seven years is a long time to get to know someone but alex & ethan knew from very early on they'd want to spend forever together. it's time to go back to where it began to celebrate!