-------------------------JANUARY 25th, 2021 UPDATE -----------------------------

Dear Family and Friends, As we hoped 2020 would bring the end to the pandemic, we are all too aware this will be a continued effort in 2021 to do our best to further control the COVID19 virus. With that being said, last March we made a decision to move our wedding from May 2020 to May 2021 in hopes of having the wedding we envisioned. However, with the current state of the pandemic, we again have had to re-look at our plans for 2021.

It is with heavy hearts (again) that we inform you all that we have decided to officially cancel our May 9###sup/sup###, 2021 wedding celebration. We both feel that even with the vaccine roll out, we cannot guarantee the state of COVID19 pandemic and therefore, the safety of our guests in regards to holding a large gathering and the celebration we envisioned. We hope you all understand this decision, and we apologize for any inconveniences we may have caused you. Please continue your current efforts of social distancing, masking up, and please consider obtaining the vaccine for COVID19 if offered to you.

As some of you may have heard, we were able to have a small wedding ceremony on September 12, 2020 in Southern Pines, NC with family, as we could not wait another year for our official marriage.

We still hope in the future to hold a celebration, when we are all able to be in large gatherings and feel safe, dance the night away, and have the reception we always envisioned for ourselves with family and friends at our side. We currently do not have any future dates planned for when this could be, but once we know we will happily spread the word!

Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions.

Love, Mia and Ben

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The year was 2014.

He was just a small town boy (not literally but he went to college in Bloomington Illinois). He took the midnight plane going to Balt-Ti-More, because that is where he got a job after college. She was just a city girl, not born but raised outside north Detroit. She took the middle lane (on the Pennsylvania turnpike) going to Balt-Ti-More.

In what better city to start this story than in the Greatest City In America. While working on the same floor in a research lab, Ben and Mia hadn't had much interaction besides an occasional work sponsored trail run or post-bac meeting. Ben decided he needed to shake up things and started a kickball team for all the science nerds to join and get their butts kicked. Mia, a natural athlete, was instantly drawn to this. Thus began a spontaneous and free spirited friendship. They spent time together working (or avoiding work), exercising, and traveling.

Soon their friendship turned into a romance. This was tested when Ben moved down to Winston Salem, North Carolina for school. Luckily through perseverance, Facetime, and many hours on highway 81 and 95 Mia was able to join Ben in Winston Salem for a job and eventually school herself.

As they built a life together, soon Ben came to realize slowly but surely that he couldn't imagine it any other way. So on one lucky day (no pun intended), Ben surprised Mia at Federal Hill in Baltimore, with some of her greatest friends, 171 pictures, a ring, and a very important question.

Since then Ben and Mia have both graduated from school and moved up to Ann Arbor, Michigan for jobs. They have added a dog to their family, Rosalind Franklin or Rosie, who is soon to be on Portugal's Next Top Dog Model.