Victoria asked Andrew to be her date at the sorority crush dance in 2020, and Andrew ~graciously~ accepted.

We took our first vacation together, and drove 15 hours each way to Johns island, SC. We had so much fun getting to know each other on those VERY long drives, and it became evident we shared a passion for adventure.

Our first christmas together (we got matching rain jackets of course)

Our first new years together, and Andrew continues to hold his place as Bear village 303's boyfriend.

Our first PIKE formal in Memphis, TN We had so much fun traveling there and back with friends!

Here we are in Chicago celebrating Andrew's 21st birthday. Andrew was working with Aptive in Chicago this summer as an internship, and it was our first time doing long distance of any kind. It was challenging, but also so fun to see him working so hard and making important connections along the way!

Victoria's 22nd birthday, Andrew (with the help of some of Victoria's friends) coordinated a surprise party! It was so meaningful and kind.

Our first thanksgiving together! We started blending our families, and creating new traditions.

A trip to breckenridge with the Meurets and the Bessmers! Another long road trip, and lots of time with family! It was wonderful to see Andrew mesh so well and connect with Victoria's side of the family. (Not to mention he can shred on a snowboard)

Andrew and Victoria Graduated from MSU! Victoria with a BS in Biology and a minor in Chemistry, and Andrew with a BS in communications. Sights were set on moving to Hawaii at this point...

A trip to Italy with the Tabora / O'Connell crew was an amazing experience. Here we are in the Vatican where we had the opportunity to attend mass. It was entirely in Italian, but moving nonetheless.

Cinque Terre, Italy! We kayaked around the bay for a few hours, and had a picnic in the water! So many wonderful memories from this trip solidified our love for adventure.

We moved to the Big Island of Hawaii in September of 2022 where we participated in a program called "Workaway". In Kahala, we worked on a farm for about 5 hours a day in exchange for free room and board. We stayed here for a month before moving to Oahu. On the farm, we were not allowed to use phones...in fact, if we wanted to make a phone call we had to walk a mile up hill! We became each other's best form of entertainment, got into reading, and began cooking from the food grown on the property. In the end we gained so many valuable experiences and learned so much about each other. We even built a whole porch and roof!

We moved to Oahu in October of 2022. This was our first hike on the island and it was POURING rain. Even with the rain it was one of the most beautiful hikes and core memory for us both as we had finally made it to our new home! Victoria began work the very next day and remained at this job as a medical assistant until moving from the island. Andrew began working in sales with Honolulu fish Co.

Our neighbor worked on a boat, and graciously invited us on many times to see the Hilton Friday fireworks from the ocean. We are so grateful to have found a generous community while we were there.

Andrew proposes! Victoria says yes (yay)

Medical school acceptance means we have to decide to leave the island, and we take a full month off of our jobs to explore this island and others before we have to move!

We visit Maui! During our time without work, we were able to visit a neighboring island and explore black sand beaches, Haleakala at sunset, and traveled the road to Hana.

The black sand beach from Maui!

This is our campsite in Maui that took us 2 hours to drive to... (It was on top of a huge mountain and the drive there was stressful to say the least). The sunset from here was beautiful. We played board games until it was dark.

Sunset from the top of Haleakala

We hiked the legal side of Stairway to Heaven and saw ~nothing~ because the visibility was so bad...but we did try! We packed so much adventure into that last month in Hawaii and some of our favorite memories stem from this time.

Victoria's White coat ceremony, and Andrew begins his new sales job in Kansas City, MO!