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Fall

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Valkyrie & Emmett: Dogs of Honor

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Frank & Lauren: how'd we get here?

In September of 2017, we matched on Tinder, and after a super cheesy pick-up line about semicolons, I broke my "no dates during the week" rule and agreed to let Frank take me out for some Mexican food. The rest was history. Though Frank wasn't looking for anything serious and wanted to move out West in 2018, I kind of ruined that plan. A month later, Frank used Leia to officially ask me to be their girlfriend.

Over the next few years, we went on many adventures, both in and out of state.

In 2018, we moved into our home for the next four years on Sunset in historic Ardmore. It played a vital role in our relationship and all of the friends we hosted. Frank won an all-expenses paid trip to Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, CA where we loaded up on free beer, food, and weed, and took a side quest to San Francisco where Frank introduced me to Lucca's Deli, where I was ruined for life for sammies. We also saw our favorite bands Lake Street Dive and Paramore as well as Khalid, Amine, The Maine, and Ilana Glazer.

In 2019, we saw a job change, a new truck, and a new family member, Valkyrie! We also visited Frank's mom in California and took a slightly deranged mini-road trip from Petaluma to Yosemite to San Francisco. We even saw our favorite artist, Maggie Rogers, in concert for the first time!

2020, boy, what a year that was for everyone. We got the Office tattoos together and took a glamping trip in the Black Mountain for Frank's 27th birthday. Frank picked up their woodworking skills as well as some power tools and I taught myself to sew so I could make masks. Our favorite restaurant, Mojito, opened in downtown Winston and instantly became a go-to whenever we needed good food.

2021 was the year Frank managed to surprise me with the best of surprises. That summer, we drove across the country with a tiny little 11' trailer to Colorado. We camped just outside of St. Louis after our initial campground was destroyed thanks to a tornado that ripped through just hours before our arrival. Then it was Kansas and finally Colorado. On our first day in Colorado, I took us to a terrible brewery downtown but Denver was redeemed once we found some delicious arepas. Only to lock the keys in the truck right before our evening hike where Frank planned to propose. We got to the top of Genessee Mountain, with me complaining the entire 2.5 miles up, and as I prepared for a cute photo with Frank, they had something else in mind. Obviously, I said yes...that's part of how we got here!

2022 was a pivotal year for us. In January, Frank healed from top surgery with Valli playing the diligent nurse. In April, we flew out to Denver to dogsit for some friends while they went out of the country. By the end of the month, I let Frank convince me to move to Denver. In June, we drove 1600 miles with two dogs in one truck and one 15' uHaul over 4 days. Frank started their new job the day after we arrived and I started my job a week and a half later. Took us a bit to get used to the elevation (and the cold), but it was fun living in a city. We saw Florence &amp; the Machine and Kehlani. We went to Denver Pride and a Rockies game.

2023 was our sixth year together and boy, did it not disappoint. We went camping twice: once in southeastern Colorado and the other in Wyoming where we saw the Milky Way with our naked eye. We got to see Maggie Rogers, Renee Rapp, Muna, Paramore, and Meet Me @ the Alter in concert.

2024, won't lie, it was not our favorite, but we survived. We had the opportunity to see Chappell Roan right before she blew up and tickets became outrageous. We also saw The Beaches and Mom Jeans before rounding out the concert circuit with a trip to Vegas to attend When We Were Young Fest where we healed our inner child and I cried seeing Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance live. Frank made the tough decision to go back to school and finished their first semester with A's and I got a promotion! Leia unexpectedly passed and her absence will be felt for a while. Shout out to her for putting up with our shit for seven years (mine for nearly a decade). Our home is a little quieter and definitely less sassy, but our lives have been forever changed by that 42lb pit bull.

Our elopement date falls less than a week short of our eighth anniversary. 8 years. 4 apartments. 2 states. Countless adventures. So many different versions of ourselves. I never knew love could look like this: like getting to hang out with my best friend, with someone who's seen me at my absolute worst (bent over the toilet, unable to handle my NYE liquor, profusely apologizing) and still wants to marry me at the end of the day. There's something so intimate and beautiful about being with someone as they grow and become themselves, and to be able to celebrate your love and commitment to each other with the people who know and love you the best is indescribable. We hope you're able to celebrate with us.

F&L

Wedding Day