Kyle and Haley met on the first day of school as freshmen in August of 2012 at Rollins College. Haley's roommate introduced Kyle to Haley at the dorms when everyone was getting to know their new neighbors and classmates at McKean Hall.

Kyle and Haley had a close circle of the same friends. Kyle quickly became obsessed with Haley’s kind heart and stunning smile. Kyle & Haley formed a special bond as two new friends from very different parts of the country, and kept each other laughing throughout the absurdity of their first year of college. The front seat in his old Jeep was always saved for Haley, no matter the other passengers along for the ride.

Kyle ended up transferring schools after freshman year to pursue a merchant marine license in New York City, but the two 19-year-olds stayed in touch as friends while college life was moving fast 1000 miles apart.

In February of year 1 at NY Maritime College, Kyle got the invite to come and see Haley at her family's house in Fairfield, CT. He showed up in his dress-blue navy-esque uniform and trekked through the snow off the Metro North with a dozen red roses in hand. He was heavily friend-zoned at this point, but was respectful and charming enough enjoy a fun and welcoming stay with the Peterson’s for the weekend.

Fast forward 7.5 years later to Summer 2021...

Haley & Kyle had both grown up and gained a ton of life experience as young adults living in multiple different states between the two. Covid had started to settle down, and Kyle was living in Tampa with plans to move to St Pete in the next year.

Haley was moving from Austin, TX to Fort Lauderdale, FL. Much to Kyle’s surprise, Haley had her mind made that she needed to check-in and and see Kyle in Tampa on the way of the final stretch of the drive from Texas to South Florida. Kyle cleared his schedule, and cancelled all plans after his round of golf with the boys.

Haley’s intuition and need to see him made sense to her as she sat across the table from him, picking up where they left off nearly a decade before. He was everything she ever wanted and more. She texted her best friend Lilly, who knew Kyle from college “Kyle Shepherd might be it for me”. To which she said, “That makes total sense”.

By the next weekend, Kyle’s 28th Birthday, Kyle was on his way to South Florida to help move Haley in, and the rest is history!

After 6 months of ‘long distance’ dating, Kyle decided to buy a house in St. Pete, and casually asked if Haley would move in with him, via Facetime. She said Yes, and they started a new chapter of life, together as one, on a quaint island neighborhood in South St Pete.

15 months later, while on an epic National Park vacation tour of Utah/Arizona, Kyle asked Haley to be his wife - with Zion National Park in the background, as bold symbol of Kyle & Haley's steadfast and longstanding love for each other.

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