We met over 10 years ago at our UVA orientation. As fate would have it we were placed in the same orientation group and spent the day getting to know each other. We remained friends throughout our time at UVA - seeing each other on and off through the years.

After graduation, we split ways. Zach headed to New York City and Kasey headed to Houston, both to begin our engineering careers. Kasey thought she would never see Zach again after saying goodbye in Charlottesville. But we continued to stay in touch as we navigated living in new cities and post-grad life. Despite the distance, at some point we both realized that our connection was worth pursuing. We started (officially) dating a few months later. After two years in Houston, Kasey transferred to her employer's New York City office. Finally, we lived in the same city!

Only a year later, the pandemic hit and our life in New York came to a halt. With our jobs now remote, we decided to hit the road, living month-to-month out of AirBNBs across the west coast. Some of our very favorite memories are quarantining with our best friends in Boise, Idaho and Sedona, Arizona in the summer of 2020. That winter we were lucky enough to live both with Zach's family at the beach in Georgia and Kasey's family at their ski house in Vermont. We both fell in love with each other’s families, and realized that each other might be "the one."

During our "pandemic year" Zach applied to graduate school and Kasey to law school. Due to a failure in planning, we did not end up at schools near each other, and thus we found ourselves going long distance once more. Kasey attended law school at the University of Colorado Boulder and Zach pursued his PhD in environmental engineering at Duke University. But, before we moved to our new cities, we quit our jobs early, and lived the van-life for a few months, free of responsibility. We had the time of our lives exploring the country and getting to see family and friends along the way.

After a wonderful summer, the sad day came where Zach headed to North Carolina and Kasey to Colorado. We made the best out of going long distance, and we supported each other through the ups and downs of graduate school. Though Kasey loved law school and loved Colorado, without telling a soul, she applied to transfer to the University of North Carolina for her last two years of law school so that she and Zach could be together again. Kasey found out that she was accepted in July 2021, surprised Zach and both families, we moved to Chapel Hill that August.

In the midst of all this change, Zach found a dog abandoned in the woods on a hot summer day. We named him Toro and decided to adopt him. While our lives definitely became a lot busier trying to balance school and a pup that needs a lot of attention, we wouldn't change it for the world. He truly is the goofball that we bow down to in our house.

Kasey had made it quite clear that she was serious about our relationship by moving across the country. Now it was Zach’s turn! While we began our reunited life together once more, Zach planned to bend the knee.

Zach realized he had a golden opportunity to propose to Kasey in December 2022. Kasey’s best friend, Margaret, Zach’s brother, Reid, and Kasey’s family would all be together to ski over New Years. He decided this would be a perfect opportunity to celebrate with the loved ones in our life. We woke up before sunrise to walk the dogs on the snowy mountain, and in the middle of the walk, Zach surprised Kasey with a ring! Kasey, caught off guard, was (thankfully) quick to say yes, as Toro was starting to wander off down the trail. Despite poor snow conditions, it was the best day of skiing of our lives.

We are grateful to be together and have you join our story as we get married in September 2024 on the same mountain where Zach proposed!