October 20th, the day our relationship began. This is the day we celebrate our anniversary every year. It isn't the day we met, but it's when we had our first unofficial date! The day began with picking up trash along the trail at Busiek State Park down by Springfield, MO. We first met at a meeting for a club at Missouri State University called the Wildlife Society in February 2018. Katie was the president then, and when Eric joined the next semester, picking up trash was the first thing we did together! After we finished picking up trash, Eric asked Katie to get lunch with him, to which she said no... But she regretted her answer and called Eric back 10 minutes later and agreed to lunch! We went to a taco joint called the Great American Taco Company where we spent more than an hour getting to know each other! Little did we know, this would be our first date in what would blossom into such a beautiful relationship.

Just six days after our first unofficial date was one of the most defining days of our relationship. Up to this point, Katie had been telling Eric about her bucket list in life, and one of them was simply looking at stars through a telescope. For the club, a small bonfire at Busiek State Park was planned so people could get to know each other. Eric remembered that Katie wished to look out of a telescope one day and asked one of his friends to bring their telescope to MSU from home. Eric brought the telescope to the bonfire and surprised Katie with it! She was so happy to just be looking out of a telescope. It was at this point that Eric realized he would love to keep scratching things off her bucket list. A strong connection between us was established through such a simple night of enjoying a bonfire and looking at stars through a telescope!

Our relationship really grew between October and December! It got to a point where we spent nearly every day with each other. As the year was drawing to a close, Katie invited Eric down to her cabin to celebrate the new year! We spent Christmas and the New Year together. We have been together for every Christmas and New Year since 2018!

The day of New Year 2019, Katie gave Eric a tour of the land her cabin is on. This land is a very special place to her and her family. She grew up playing in the hundred acre woods and always had a special connection to the spring. So much so that she has wanted to get married there her whole life, and share that spot with only one person. She knew from the start that person was Eric.

Our first time sampling in a stream together! The Wildlife Society adopted a stream and worked hard at keeping it clean and conducting water quality tests. Little did we know this was not our last time sampling streams together...

Our first time camping out together! The Wildlife Society hosted a camping weekend near Arkansas. We rented out an old rangers station and had the entire property to ourselves. We had such a blast hanging out with our friends and learning what a bryozoan is!

Eric took Katie to eat all you can eat sushi for the first time in Saint Louis! Our eyes are always bigger than our stomachs, we had to admit defeat after only a couple of rolls. After this, sushi became a staple in our dinner options and we would always have a sushi Saturday dinner when we eventually moved to STL together.

Katie's first time flying a kite! When we first met, we told eachother all the things we wanted to try on our bucket lists. Flying a kite was one of Katie's top items, so Eric made it a reality for her.

Earth Day!!! Back to our roots again picking up trash together, at the same park that started our story.

Over the summer of 2019, Katie worked at a non-profit camp called Sherwood Forest. This camp required Katie to work LONG hours, and only getting 12hrs off a week. During these 12 hours, we prioritized each other and would drive hours to just spend a few together. Moments like these made us not take each other's company for granted.

Our first 4th of July together! We prioritized spending as many holidays together as possible. We were beyond excited to share this memory together at Katie's farm, enjoying every memory created.

Our first anniversary!! Eric surprised Katie with a romantic evening, followed by private ballroom dancing lessons! Lets hope we still remember them in time for our wedding...

Another fun adventure. We went to Hawksbill Craig in Arkansas and hiked up to a location known as "The Kissing Spot". Needless to say, Padme did not enjoy it as much as we did.

Dinner with the Ng's! We visited Eric's family before heading out to Boston for a vacation with Katie's family. This is the first photo Katie took with her future in-laws.

Katie graduated from MSU! I was so excited to share this memory with her and support her in the crowd. Seeing her walk across the stage put the biggest smile on Eric's face! This photo was taken right in front of Karls Hall, the place where we first met.

Our first time in Boston together! We had tickets to the Boston Symphony with Katie's family. It was so exciting to hear them play the original Looney Toons score live!

Another amazing New Years, and our first time out of the country together! To start the year off, we went on a family trip with Katie's side to Placencia, Belize. This was such an amazing experience for us. We did everything, from snorkeling at a coral reef to exploring the ATM cave with Mayan skeletons and relics!

This was right around when the world shut down because of COVID. Eric's last semester went completely virtual, so we spent all of quarantine at the cabin in the middle of the woods! While COVID was a dark time in recent history, we were fortunate to be able to spend months of quality time together.

We spent a lot of our time outside during lockdown! We would be with Eric's family periodically as well, and would go on lots of walks at Cliff Cave Park with Padme.

One of the craziest things that happened during lockdown was Katie cutting Eric's hair! He loved his long hair, but felt a change was needed. Did he regret it? Well, he's currently trying to grow his hair back out...

Eric graduated from MSU! I am so proud of him for all of his accomplishments, big and small. What a beautiful family I get to marry into!

For Eric's birthday, Katie surprised Eric with a trip to Eureka Springs in Arkansas! We absolutely love this small, beautiful town. We had such a great time! We stayed in a treehouse BnB and never wanted to leave!

Another anniversary celebration! This time, we kept it simple and had a nice dinner and went to a winery near St. Peters, MO. We just really like to dress up together!

Every October/November, we try to make it back to Missouri for Octoberfest with Katie's family! It's both celebratory and preparatory. We celebrate family being together, typically with klub (the yummiest Norwegian potato dumplings), and prepare the cabins for winter by cutting down trees and getting firewood ready!

Eric grew up going down south every year for Thanksgiving, but this was our first time being in the southeast together! Little did we know then that this wouldn't be our last trip to Georgia and South Carolina, but that we'd eventually make a home there. This trip we were with Katie's younger sister Jacqui! We went to Yonah Mountain Vineyards, then hiked to the top of Yonah Mountain! We fell in love with this area of the country.

We loved Georgia so much, we came back to the southeast ourselves later that year! This time, we spent all our time in South Carolina. We absolutely fell in love with the Pickens area, specifically Table Rock State Park! The Carrick Creek Loop at Table Rock is without a doubt our favorite hike to do! We have gone back every year since then. It's our favorite spot to unwind!

We then made our way to the coast of SC! This photo was taken on St. Helena Island, right between where each of us would be working the next year. We absolutely loved the lowcountry, from the marsh grass to the smell of sulfur and sea salt... We would be calling this place home eventually.

In the midst of all this traveling, we were working too! We were living the dream. We got to work together at the Saint Louis Zoo! Katie was a horticulturalist and basically designed the floral layout and planted all of Dinoroarus! Eric was a zookeeper and took care of the sharks and stingrays at Caribbean Cove. We loved being able to drive to work together, have lunch together, and go home at the same time!

We ended the year by inviting a new life to our little family! We rescued this little kitten from the woods behind our STL apartment and gave him a home! We thought he was a girl at first, then took him to the vet for the first time and found out he was a boy... The way his purrs sounded reminded us of a chirping cricket, plus he looked like an Ewok! Thus, he was named Chirpa (Chief Chirpa from Return of the Jedi).

Just before this moment, we left both of our jobs and accepted positions in Beaufort, South Carolina! Before we left Missouri, we spent time with Katie's dad in Arkansas where he took us to see Professional Bull Riding for the first time! We have been hooked on it ever since. Within weeks of this, we packed our stuff up and moved down south for the next big chapter in our lives!

Our second home together! Our apartment in Beaufort was absolutely beautiful, and we had the marsh and the Broad River in our backyard as well.

This was such an exciting day. We took Padme to the beach for the first time! She absolutely loved the sand, but didn't know what to think about it at first... She really loved running into the waves and then running away and letting them chase her. She also would chase seagulls like they were squirrels!

Because South Carolina is awesome, we were always able to just do a weekend trip up to the mountains if we felt like it. We loved doing this! We would just drive the truck up and setup our bed tent for a night or two. That way, we could get some nice hikes in! Padme loved these trips.

This is a big one... Our first time to Disney World together! Katie had been dying to go, so naturally, we went. Thankfully, Beaufort is not a far drive from Orlando at all! We had soooooo much fun. We ate Mickey Mouse pretzels, watched the 50th celebration parade, and rode as many rides we could. Katie really wanted to see the fireworks at the end of the night, but unfortunately, we had to drive back home and missed them. Eric promised to watch the fireworks with her another time *foreshadowing*

We absolutely loved our time in South Carolina, but we missed learning and wanted to continue our education and our Masters degrees. So we applied to West Liberty University through recommendation, and the letters of acceptance finally came in! Even though it felt like we just began this journey, we were on to the next one.

Three months later, we went up to West Liberty, WV to tour our new town and see the school where we would be spending the next 2 years! We really enjoyed the small town nestled in the Appalachian mountains and knew we would have a great time.

ENGAGEMENT DAY!! July 25th is the most important day of our lives to date, apart from meeting each other of course. Eric surprised Katie with one more trip to Disney World before starting school. He snuck the ring into the car before leaving, planning to put it in the backpack during the car ride. Once we got to Epcot, Katie insisted on carrying the bag all throughout the park. He really didn't want to give the backpack to her but she ABSOLUTELY insisted. He wasn't even able to sneak the ring into the backpack! Since he didn't have the ring in the park, he started planning to propose another day and just enjoy Epcot with Katie. As the day progressed and the night came to an end, Eric got a strong feeling that this was the moment, despite all his planning. We watched the firework show, and then Katie wanted one last photo before we left for the night. We went to a beautiful, secluded pond in the China area that we both loved. As she aimed the disposable camera at Eric, he bent down and plucked a blade of grass. Katie didn't really notice and took a photo of Eric anyways! But afterward, Eric got down on one knee and proposed!!! And so started yet another new chapter. After we returned to the hotel, he gave Katie the actual engagement ring, which was his grandma's ring that was passed down to his mom, and then to him! She always told Eric that it didn't matter what ring she had on her finger, even if it was a blade of grass... So Eric just had to test that!

One of the things we did to celebrate our anniversary in 2023 was visiting Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh! It was absolutely stunning, and our favorite botanical garden. We liked it so much, we chose to get our engagement photos done there! This was our favorite display because we both love fall, since that's the season we fell in love.

Our first time in Canada! We spent this Thanksgiving together at Niagara Falls. It was freezing cold, but there was plenty of hot chocolate to keep us warm. We had so much fun crossing this off of both of our bucket lists!

All of 2024, we have been busy with field work for our master's degrees. Essentially, we have been playing in creeks and digging for crayfish, looking like this all the time! We have been fortunate to be able to basically work with each other again for 2 years.

We got our first helicopter ride! Before we left South Carolina (where our field work was at), Eric's family took us up to see Table Rock from an aerial view! It was the first time in a helicopter for both of us.

We got promoted to auntie and uncle status on October 24th, 2023! Together, we weren't able to visit our nephews until this trip to Boston. We absolutely love our little bundles of double trouble <3

This was the last time we were out of the country, and also our second time to Canada. Katie's dad took us on the trip of a lifetime to fish for walleye and pike! There was no service at all. Just family, fun, and fish.

First birthday bash for our boys! We loved spoiling them and watching them play. It was a great time for family to come together and celebrate the lives of two sweet beans!

For our anniversary this year, we celebrated by visiting an apple orchard! We've always wanted to pick apples together, and this year was the perfect time to do it. We are still eating them! We also had some awesome apple cider and apple cider donuts!

And that brings us to today. This photo is of the ring Katie had custom made for Eric. She wanted Eric to have something as special as the inherited engagement ring he proposed to her with. Her family didn't have any heirlooms like that, so she made her own. My dad provided the walnut from a tree he grew up playing on and collecting walnuts to sell during the summer and fall. My mom collected the stones from the spring, a place very near and dear to her and her side of the family, and the place where we will marry. I gave the ring to him under an apple tree during our anniversary date! Now he has something passed down through my family to him.