Dylan and Sarah met several years ago through close friends, but would often only interact through small talk. Much to Sarah’s surprise, Dylan had been asking friends to set the two of them up, only to be told repeatedly that Sarah wouldn’t be interested. Clearly, things worked out differently.


In 2022, Dylan was two and a half weeks away from shipping out to basic training for the Air Force, when he and Sarah finally made a connection. From there, the rest is history.


Nineteen days after September 14, 2022, Dylan was on a plane to Texas. For the next seven and a half weeks of basic training, they communicated solely through letters and three fifteen-minute phone calls. The very beginning of their relationship was built upon those letters; and in one of them, Dylan wrote to Sarah saying that she could refer to him as her boyfriend.


Dylan graduated from basic training during Thanksgiving week in 2022. He was then sent to Pensacola, Florida for technical training, where he lived for just over four months. Meanwhile, Sarah remained back home in Southern California.
Roughly 2,012 miles separated the couple for the entirety of those four months.
They continued to build their relationship through video calls and lots (and lots) of text messages.


In April 2023, Dylan was assigned to his first duty station in Tucson, AZ—just six hours from San Diego. Over the next thirteen months, Dylan traveled more than 30,000 miles between Tucson and San Diego. When he was able to, he would finish work on a Friday, drive six hours back home to California, and then drive back to Arizona early on the following Sunday morning. Though their time together was limited to these weekend visits once or twice a month, their relationship only grew stronger.
This was proven when Dylan asked Sarah to marry him on January 13, 2024.


As many of you may know, the two married on March 22, 2024 in an intimate courthouse ceremony in Santee, followed by a tasty celebration at Olive Garden. They knew that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together—so why wait? But, they also knew they wanted to celebrate traditionally with friends and family when the time was right. Their one-year wedding anniversary could not have been a better day to do it.


After their elopement, they spent a few more months separated by distance while Sarah remained in Southern California to complete her Associate’s Degree. After she graduated in May 2024, she moved to Tucson without skipping a beat.
Shortly after, in June, they adopted their beloved cat, Scaredy (often called Tiny Cat).


Much has happened since then, and there is no doubt that more is yet to come. Above all, they are beyond excited to finally celebrate their marriage with all of the people they love most.


Here’s to Dylan and Sarah.