Sawyer and I’s story begins on just your typical 2010 school day in Latin 1 with Mrs. Petras. On this particular day, a few boys sitting behind Sawyer were being exceptionally rowdy, and after multiple attempts at quieting them, Mrs. Petras decided to move my seat to the back of the classroom (across from Sawyer) to separate the boys. It took a few days before Sawyer and I actually talked to one another, but I finally decided to make my move. With three classes together that semester, Sawyer and I grew to become really close friends, and over the last years of high school, we were pretty inseparable. Even when we weren’t together, we were constantly texting one another, so much so, that my family would get irritated and make me put my phone away. Sawyer and I attended both junior and senior prom and senior homecoming together, and after graduation, even worked together at Burger King for several years.

After high school, our lives became so busy with work, college, and nursing school, but Sawyer and I always made time with each other a priority. Even if it was just going for a quick car ride on our 30 minute lunch break or watching movies in his mom’s basement, we were always happy to be spending time together. Once I moved to Harrisonburg and started attending JMU, Sawyer and I were able to take a class together, and spent many evenings eating dinner, hitting the gym, or just hanging out struggling through my chemistry homework together.

A few years after graduating college and working our “adult jobs”, Sawyer and I decided to take the plunge and buy our first home together (during a global pandemic), which was a little intimidating considering we had never lived with one another before. A month later, we became parents to the sassiest little black lab puppy Callie Mae, and became a family of three (and later a family of four with the addition of our Sadie).

Fast forward to July 2021, after living with one another for a little over a year, Sawyer decided to take Callie and I for a ride to Highland County. Not unusual right? This is something we did all the time. So often it would be impossible for me to try and even guess how many hours Sawyer and I have spent just riding in the car blasting our favorite songs on back country roads or watching the sunset from Skyline Drive. So it was only appropriate that Sawyer used this as his opportunity to ask me the long awaited question: would I marry him. This was the easiest yes I’ve ever said in my entire life.

We are so excited to finally be getting married and to continue our relationship of over a decade in the making!