Our Story:

One October evening in 2017, a bee buzzed my phone. Jon and I met through the dating app called Bumble. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this app, it allows ladies to make the first move instead of the men.
Once I had made the first “move”, Disney, traveling, and our favorite foods were some of the hot topics we bonded over from the beginning.
For the next couple of weeks, we talked and got to know each other while living 100 miles from each other.
I took a chance, and we decided to meet in person in downtown Richmond on one of my favorite holidays: Halloween.

Our meet cue is one I’ll never forget.
Not knowing what he looked like in person, I immediately recognized his dog, Liberty, on a leash since he had sent me photos of her.
I nervously approached him, not knowing what to say but could feel the butterflies as I tried to anticipate what he would say or do.
Out of nowhere, Liberty had circled behind me, jumped on my back, and pushed me into Jon while landing into an awkward but intimate hug.
I could have spit out butterflies at that moment.
After Liberty had returned to his apartment, we continued our interaction by grabbing drinks and appetizers at a speakeasy called Grandstaff and Stein.

From there on out, we spent weekends going back and forth seeing each other. One weekend, I would come to Richmond, and then Jon would come to Virginia Beach another weekend (usually during his drill weekend with the National Guard).

After almost a year of doing long distance within Virginia, Jon left for Little Rock, Arkansas, in August 2018 to start his graduate degree. Our long-distance relationship had just become 1000 times more challenging.

A couple of months into this new challenge, Jon and I decided to end our relationship so we could continue focusing on our undergraduate and graduate degrees

Once the initial sting of breaking up had worn off, we continued to stay friends and messaged each other frequently.
We even took time to see each other during Christmas break.
Several months went by, and in 2019, we decided to reconnect in person. One stifling August day, I flew to Little Rock, AR, to visit Jon after a fair amount of convincing on his end.
I’ll never forget, he picked me up from the airport with flowers and a smile that remains pressed into my memory.
Long story short, he told me he still loved me and I him. We both knew that we should try once more.

Back and forth, we went to Arkansas and Virginia, cherishing each moment we had in each other’s presence, knowing we only had a couple of days to make the most of it.

In March 2020, I had a plane ticket to visit Jon for spring break.
However, news came out that a pandemic had landed in our country, and flights were canceled all over the place, including mine.

The most memorable phone call I have ever had with Jon was the day I found out my flight was canceled. He said to me “Everything is shutting down, and I don’t want to go through this without you. I need you here.”
That same week, he found a house for rent for us to live in together and go through the pandemic together.
Two days later, I packed up what I could into my little Jeep Liberty with Noelle in tow, left my job, and school in my rearview mirror since it had switched to remote classes only. Then, I traveled not only the furthest I ever had by car but had made the conscious decision to move from my hometown for the first time.

Oh, what a year 2020 was. After living 1000 miles apart, flipping a switch to living with each other in close quarters while avoiding leaving the house had quite the learning curve.
But truthfully, it made us stronger and closer as a couple in the end. However, It only took 6 months of living in Arkansas to realize that I did not want to live there long-term.

When Jon had finished the bulk of his graduate degree, he asked me where I wanted to live since I had moved to be with him.
Being the mountain man Jon is, he mentioned moving to Colorado and exploring the Midwest a little further to see what that had to offer.
Being a beach town gal, and not wanting to move back to Virginia, we wanted to see what Charleston, South Carolina could bring to the table.

After two weeks of exploring and a little bit of luck house hunting in March 2021, we signed a contract to have a house built in Awendaw, SC (approximately 30 minutes from Downtown Charleston). In August 2021, we moved once more to our current home.

Needless to say, the past 6+ years have been nothing short of an adventure.
Honestly, this season of love and matrimony is one we can not wait for.