Our love story began in Rock Hill, SC at Winthrop University. James was the instructor of a group fitness class that I attended. We connected and he took me on our first date to a trampoline park and we had a blast! After going on a few other dates we fell more and more for each other. In spring of 2019, we decided to go to Carowinds. After a long fun day there, James asked me to be his girlfriend and I happily said yes! After dating for a few years, we began to realize how much we had in common when in comes to family, values and God. Over the past few years, we’ve grown closer and closer.

Summer 2023, James was invited to present his research at a conference in Uppsala, Sweden. We were both thrilled about this opportunity for him and took a 7 hr flight across seas. While we were in Sweden, we had so much fun learning about their culture, trying delicious food and sight seeing. It was a warm afternoon after the conference was over with and James, myself and a few of our friends were heading to a dinner at a castle. On our way there, we stopped to admire a cathedral and James got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I happily said Yes!! We will never forget how special that moment was for us.