Back in 2019, we first met in person at a coffee shop in Norfolk, VA called Fairgrounds, which quickly became one of our "go-to" spots. Although we were just friends at the time, this is what we consider the starting point for everything that has happened so far in our relationship.

Early on, we knew that we had many common interests. Specifically, we are both hugs fans of music, specifically live. We are always willing to travel great distances and wait for many hours to see our favorite bands in the front row of a general admissions setting. Some examples of bands we have waited countless hours for (together and separately) include Greta Van Fleet, the Struts, and Nightwish, to name a few! Our commitment to these bands is comparable to are relationship, as we are always patient, optimistic, and dedicated to the ones we care about.

Unfortunately, we began dating at an unusual point in time for the world: 2020. The pandemic prevented us from visiting one another for extended periods of time, which made things difficult early on. However, because we went to different colleges, it would not have been much different even if the world were not in shambles - the ~200 miles between our schools was going to remain in place either way.

Despite the hardships of the 2020 pandemic, we made it through with minimal wear-and-tear on our relationship! We won't follow the typical cliché pattern and say that it made us stronger, but it is worth noting that, because we made it through an obstacle such as the pandemic, we knew we could make it through whatever life throws at us. We always looked forward in time to big trips such as Nashville, as well as smaller (more-frequent) ones to Farigrounds. In the end, there was always something to look forward to, which made everything much easier.

We got engaged at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on August 15th, 2022. This seemed like the perfect place to pop the question because of our shared love for live music. Our engagement came at an interesting time, but not one that was uncommon to us: the start of graduate school. We were both in the early phases of our programs, which meant that we had to travel far to see each other again. However, we had plenty of practice at this point, so it was not that much of a barrier.

We now live together in Harrisonburg, Virginia and embrace the life of rural VA to the fullest. We are frequent visitors of Shenandoah National Park (particularly the Bearfence Rock Scramble) and go to many athletic events for JMU and TAHS.

We appreciate our loved ones very much and we are excited to share our special day with you all! Thank you for reading about our story!