Ashley and Avery first met in the Cedartown High School Marching Band- Ashley was the assistant drum major and Avery was a saxophone player. They became good friends, but did not always have consistent contact. In October 2019, Avery and Ashley met in the grocery store- Ashley was picking up groceries and Avery was working. It was the first time they had seen each other in years, and both were very happy to see the other again. As time went on, Ashley found herself at the grocery store more often and would talk to Avery throughout his shift (until his boss would come over and tell him to ask her to leave). One fateful day in July, Ashley walked in and Avery told her they should go to dinner sometime. They had their first date July 11, 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. By the time the date ended, they had been gone 12 hours, most of it spent talking and discovering they had similar interests (such as Dungeons and Dragons). Avery asked Ashley to be his girlfriend on July 19, 2020. Throughout their time dating Ashley finished OT school, Avery started and finished nursing school, they took trips to Chattanooga and Augusta, baked together, played Dungeons and Dragons, went to Caffeine and Octane, visited farmers markets, and most importantly made wonderful memories, laughs, and fostered love between them. On August 11, 2024 they took a trip to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (the third attempt at this trip since March) where, with the mountains as the backdrop on a small balcony, Avery asked Ashley to marry him, and the rest is history.