"From high school hallways to forever and always"

We met on the very first day of our sophomore year of high school during 4th period lunch. We discovered that we both swam on the high school team the previous year and bonded over the rigors of swim practices. Ally always had, and still has, the ability to turn anyone's bad days around with her jokes, puns, riddles, and funny stories.

In December, Sam decided that her personality was one he could not live without. He thought about the best way of asking her out for weeks. Ally had a riddle up her sleeve almost daily, so Sam decided to make a puzzle that would ultimately ask her out (very cheesy but he was 16 at the time). Throughout the week, there was a different piece of paper that had a word on it and she had to keep all of them to figure out the phrase. At the end of the week on February 19th, 2016, she had a final question that read “Will you be my girlfriend?” and she obviously said "Yes!" We went through the rest of high school together and graduated in June of 2018. We didn’t know what the future would hold as we would be attending different colleges in the fall.

The summer went by so fast, and before we knew it, Ally was moving into college. She was meeting so many new people, including those who would become her best friends. Two months into the school year, Sam was finally able to visit Ally for a weekend. We hung out, had such a fun time, talked about our future, and knew that we needed to be in each other's lives forever. It was at this exact moment that Sam knew he was going to marry Ally! Fast forward, Ally graduates from Penn State and starts her career in Pittsburgh. Sam helps Ally adopt an Australian Shepherd mix named Ladybug to keep her company. A few months later, Sam moves to Pittsburgh to be with Ladybug (and oh, Ally was there too) and begins nursing school.

On April 29th, 2023, we went to a lantern festival, like the one in the movie Tangled. This is where Sam decided to pop the question. After 7 years, it was an obvious “YES!!” from Ally. It was a special night that we will remember and cherish forever. From first meeting as high school sophomores to getting married as a meteorologist and a nurse, it has been a journey full of love and laughter!