We met the summer of 2019 through mutual friends when we were each asked to join a sand volleyball team (Thank you Alex & Diana)

We started dating the summer of 2020 which consisted of many dates outdoors or at each other's houses due to the pandemic.

Long distance during our senior year of college meant multiple quick weekend trips to visit each other at Purdue and Carroll.

We graduated from Purdue and Carroll University and were excited to be living near each other again.

While Rachel was working in Milwaukee during her gap year we enjoyed many dates at breweries, museums, ice skating, botanical gardens, and various sporting events.

One of our favorite dates was a 10 cent martini night at a speakeasy in Milwaukee. Neither of us had ever had a martini before, and we quickly learned they are disgusting. We washed them down with shakes and cheese curds and had a blast!

Our first concert together. Made Justin into a Dan+Shay fan!

Justin made Rachel a Purdue fan. Boiler Up!

We had the opportunity to visit Europe through Justin's company and visited one of Rachel's best friends who was studying in London at the time.

White Cliffs of Dover

Paris

We roadtriped to Utah and spent a week and a half living out of a van and visited 5 National Parks. This began our goal to visit all 63 parks together!

Canyonlands National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

Our favorite hike so far has been The Narrows in Zion National Park!

Zion National Park

Rachel wasn't able to come home for Thanksgiving, so Justin kindly came to Knoxville and we spent Thanksgiving Day hiking in Smokey Mountain National Park.

Celebrated out 3rd anniversary a little early with a trip to Destin, FL.

A break from school calls for a short trip to Asheville, NC.

Justin came to visit Knoxville many times throughout Rachel's didactic year in PA school which included many hikes together in the Smokies and even a Vols football game.

Engaged on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN.

Rachel graduated PA school and we moved in together in Wauwatosa, WI!

We took a belated graduation trip to visit the national parks in Arizona. On our first day there was a beautiful sunset in Saguaro National Park!

We enjoyed Petrified Forest National Park even though we got stuck in a hail and snow storm

We headed to Page for much better weather and visited Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and Lake Powell.

We spent a few days in Grand Canyon National Park hiking along the rim and even deep into the canyon on the Bright Angel Trail.

We concluded the trip in Sedona with beautiful red rock formations