Xander has matched at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) in orthopedic surgery! This means we will call Pittsburgh our new home for the next five years as he completes his residency! Upon finishing her masters in nursing degree and getting married, Lillie will join him out there and work as a nurse! This opportunity is all by God's grace and we are excited for all the adventures this next chapter holds. We have heard so many amazing things about the Pittsburgh community and have already been connected with some amazing people. We have even bought a house site unseen from one of these amazing people on the feast of St. Joseph the Worker! We desire our new home to be one of great hospitality, so please, come and visit us! Pittsburgh is one of the most Catholic cities in America with the most relics outside of the Vatican, so we are sure we can find some cool Catholic sites! Plus, part of Xander's training is working with the Pittsburgh professional sports teams, so we can all go to a game together! Have any favorite places in Pittsburgh or know fun things about the city? We'd love to hear it!

After these five years in Pittsburgh, it is all in the Lord's and United States Air Force's hands! Once his residency training is complete, Xander will be going on active duty, serving as an orthopedic surgeon. This means we can be placed anywhere from San Antonio, to Italy, to Korea! We'll keep you updated!

Please pray for us in this time of transition and that the Lord's will may be done!

If You ask Xander: It was SEEK 2023, I was walking around “Mission Way” – the place where the vendors and vocations were – and checking out all the unique and beautiful catholic items. There was a booth called “Oremoose” that was absolutely packed with people. One of the workers explained to me that they made genuine leather items, particularly bible and breviary covers. Being the financially savvy (and broke) guy that I was, I went straight to those that had some kind of “imperfection” because they were 50% off. I pulled out my bible and found one that fit well and had a small scratch (of character) on the back. After that I started looking at the wallets and other leather-made gizmos.

When I turned around there was a beautiful girl with dazzling eyes, breathtaking smile, and super cute curly blonde hair. I don’t remember how our conversation started but I found out she was working for Oremoose and was from Minnesota. Being the incredibly insightful and well-read guy I am, my super astute response was, “Oh that’s cool, I have family from Wisconsin!” Thankfully she didn’t bat an eye at my minimally relevant comment, but rather told me she was going to nursing school at Marquette in a few weeks. In our conversation, I shared about how I was finishing medical school and she shared that she was initially pre-med but was now going back to nursing school to pursue midwifery.

Ultimately, our conversation turned to the topic of home births – of which we disagreed on – and I asked for her number so we could “meet up and talk about it more later”. Thankfully for me, she agreed to see me a few days later and we both loved spending time together. She agreed to see me again once more before the conference ended and then agreed to let me come to Milwaukee to take her on more formal dates. Not quite a year later, after a truly loving and growth-filled year of long-distance dating, she agreed to marry me in front of our Lord at St. Stanislaus in Milwaukee. By the grace of God, I am able to marry my best friend, who has been with me through the ups and downs, and I know we will strive together to grow in holiness, growing closer to God every day of our life.

If You ask Lillie: In January 2023, I was at the annual SEEK conference in St. Louis hosted by FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students). I was attending as a vendor as I was helping some friends run their company booth for OreMoose Catholic Leatherwork (check them out!). Considering this conference is attended by 20,000 people, I was meeting a ton of awesome customers each day and Xander just so happened to be one of them.

In our small talk about the company, it came up that I was about to start school again to begin my Masters of Nursing. This piqued his interest as he was a fourth year medical student, and he asked what type of nurse I wanted to be. When I shared that I wanted to be a midwife he was taken back a bit and immediately asked me my opinion on home births. He shared that his sister-in-law wants to have a home birth (shout out to Grace!) and he just can't wrap his head around it as a fourth year medical student. I shared how I love them and think they can be a great option for some women. He proceeded to remember I was working and how now was not the time for his off the wall question. This is when he apologized and then slyly asked me if he could get my number and if I would be open to meeting up and discussing further when I was not working. And of course I said yes as all my stubborn self was really thinking was how I could school this medical student in birth.

Well when I shared this with my best friend (and maid of honor!) Natalie, who was also working the booth, she thought there might be more of an interest than just talking birth haha. Boy, was she right haha! We met up the next day and went to the Arch (where Xander brought our his Air Force ID for admission and that piqued my interest haha) and home births did not come up for over an hour. After what was supposed to be a conversation about home births over coffee turned into a whole afternoon of exploring St. Louis, I found myself hating how much fun I was having with his charming self. He made it obvious that he was more interested in getting to know me than he was home births and I tried to make it obvious that I wasn't interested in a man who lived across the country. Yet, he was persistent and kindly asked if I would get coffee with him the next morning before the conference ended. When I met back up with Natalie smiling ear to ear, she encouraged me to be open and meet up with him anyway. He expressed his desire to see each other again and I again expressed my desire of not doing the whole long distance thing.

A few days later and I get a call where he eagerly says he would be "in my area" in the next week for a residency interview and would love to come take me on a proper date. When I asked about "my area," he said Cleveland, OH. I just laughed as this was 7 hours from Milwaukee. Yet, again being encouraged to stay open by my amazing friends and now bridesmaids, the next thing I knew he was in Milwaukee. He rolled up to meet me at the Milwaukee young adult Mass and adoration night still in his suit from his interview and with red roses in hand. He was such a gentleman from the beginning, sitting me down, clearly stating his intentions, and letting me know I could ask him to leave at any time if I wasn't interested. I again found myself having so much fun, laughing, having great conversation, feeling very seen, and admiring his love for the Lord. The next thing I knew, we were coming up with a plan to see each other again. And from that visit forward his eagerness, persistent pursuit, selflessness, and faith led us through navigating long-distance as a nursing student and a surgical resident. Fast-forward a year full of flights, adventures, and growth, he pulled off the most intentional and beautiful surprise of an engagement on the feast of the Holy Family in January 2024 in the same church we are to be married in! Our story is only one the Lord could orchestrate and I am excited to continue to see what the Lord's will holds for us as we enter into the sacrament of Holy Matrimony!