Our story does begin a long time ago… over 17 years ago, on the first day of 8th grade at Thomas Grover Middle School, where Drew and Amy shared several classes together.

The first thing 13-year old Amy noticed about Drew was his amazing—dare we say, Justin Bieber-esque—hair. She thought it would be funny to leave a couple bottles of Disney hotel conditioner on his desk chair to try and catch his attention. While this may not have wooed him as planned, it did help them become quick friends.

Throughout middle school and high school, their friendship grew into something more between all the phone calls, plan-limited text messages, and OoVoo chats. By senior year, Drew and Amy finally shared classes again. Fortunately (well, unfortunately for Drew’s homework load), they were AP Statistics partners and labmates in Human Anatomy. After a few years of "right person, wrong time," Drew asked Amy to be his girlfriend on January 7, 2012. (Amy’s mother was worried this was too early to lock in a senior prom date, but don’t worry—it all worked out!)

After a senior year filled with baseball games, class trips, the best promposal a girl could dream of, prom, and graduation, Drew chose to attend the University of Maryland, while Amy headed to Clemson University—about 600 miles apart. They had a long, deep discussion in the car about their relationship, which went something like this:

“Should we stay together when we go to college next year?”

“I mean, I think we should give it a shot, right?”

“Cool, sounds good.”

Fun fact: This is still how Drew and Amy make most of life’s decisions to this day.

And so their long-distance relationship began. Although four years apart wasn’t easy, they made it work. With surprise visits, formal events, fall breaks, and amazing roommates who didn’t mind an extra guest on long weekends or spring break crashers, Amy and Drew made it through. As graduation approached, Drew accepted a job at Deloitte in DC, and Amy was ready to leave the South. They finally started living in the same state again—Virginia.

Living in the DMV (that’s DC, Maryland, and Virginia for non-locals) was amazing in large part due to all the wonderful friends they had or met while living there. Together, they made new memories trying new restaurants, visiting the pandas at the DC Zoo (Amy’s favorite), sampling wine at a Virginia vineyards (Amy’s second favorite), catching a ball game, or wherever else their adventures would take them.

Of course, their social life—along with the rest of the world—would come to an abrupt pause in early 2020. Drew and Amy suddenly found themselves at home all day. While they could have done with a few less Zoom calls and takeout meals, they soon realized how much they loved trading in their commutes for the extra time together.

As remote work continued, Amy’s parents bought a home in Florida, near Walt Disney World. With the flexibility to work from anywhere, Amy and Drew drove the 12.5 hours to help pick up the keys to the house. They stayed for a week. Then they quickly planned a two week trip.Then a three week trip. Then a four week trip. By February 2022, they were ready to say goodbye to the cold and hello to humidity, officially moving to Florida—missing a snowstorm in Virginia by just one day.

Over the years the question was always (and they mean ALWAYS) asked: when would Amy and Drew finally get married? In November 2023, Amy had a big birthday coming up, and Drew used it as a cover to plan a surprise trip to Key West. He arranged everything, from fancy dinners to a beautiful resort with plenty of pool time. On November 18th, they visited the historic Key West lighthouse that Drew had rented out, where he dropped to one knee and popped the question. Amy said yes, and now we get to have a party!

By August 16, 2025, Amy and Drew will have been together for over 13 years. And while their story is long, all the memories with friends and family along the way have been what makes this moment so special.

Thank you all for your endless support, love, and fun over the years—we can’t wait to see where this story goes next!