We met as UMaine students while rock climbing, but we didn't actually connect until months later when we went on our first date on March 1, 2020. We went to Bagel Central for breakfast that day then proceeded to casually hangout for a few weeks...until the pandemic hit.

In the first few months of dating, we could only hangout outside. We got into botanizing on bike rides and hiking in Caribou Bog which was right out Johnny's backdoor. Maddie taught Johnny how to ID wild plants and fungi, and he taught them how to grow food in the pandemic garden we started at their apartment.

Many adventures followed, and then we graduated school at the same time. We moved onto a farm which happened to be quite the misadventure but it ended with us living with a friend who encouraged us to adopt our pup, Ruggles Puddles.

We moved back to Orono and both found more stable work. Eventually, we both got to thinking, this is pretty neat. So, we talked about marriage and eventually decided to make it official!

Johnny had been planning on proposing during a rock climb at the 'Gunks in New York, but Maddie beat him to it with a conversation the week before. We told our family a couple months later and our friends after that.

Since our engagement, we bought a house and moved to Winterport, ME! It's been a lovely adventure.