We met for the first time through an event at a wine bar in downtown Raleigh. We hit it off immediately and had exchanged numbers over Facebook a couple of days later.

Our first date started in the early afternoon at Dorothea Dix park. We decided we weren't happy with just a trip to the park and kept making up things to do. We went to Durham to check out another park, back to Raleigh for dinner, and then ice cream. The date ended once we realized the weekend was practically over later in the evening.

One of many trips we took together in 2019 to take pictures of stars. We spent most weekends that summer driving into the mountains to go camping, spend some time alone, and take pictures like this one.

This was our first DIY project together. There were many more to come.

We found a litter of kittens outside our door one night, and Chantel fell in love with this little lady immediately. After dropping them off at the local shelter, we came home with little Sophie a few days later. She's spoiled rotten.

Sophie was so great, that James couldn't wait to get his dog any longer. After looking around for a while, we were able to get on a waitlist. We welcomed Fresa home just before Christmas. Sophie was suspicious at first, but they love each other now.

We spent the pandemic together as Chantel's lease was up just as it kicked off. We moved in together and spent our free time renovating our backyard to keep busy. We love it out there now and we gather around our fire pit to watch movies with friends.

James proposed (and stupidly took no pictures, oh well)! This was a long time coming. We knew we were ready and had been shopping around for rings and planning out the event for quite a while. When the day finally came, it was perfect. An intimate setting in our backyard that we'd built together. Just the two of us. Our favorite wine and a beautiful charcuterie board with a fire going. James even enlisted a roommate to help setup some string lights (which we still use!) while Chantel was out with a friend.

Our view on the morning of Chantel's birthday. We took our first big trip together and spent 10 days in Portugal. Both of our birthdays and our anniversary are all within 10 days of each other, so we made it extra special. We look forward to spending many more days like this together.