We're high school sweethearts! We met right before our senior year of high school after Sam moved to Maryland with his family. We even went to senior prom together!

After high school, Sam joined the Navy and was stationed in Jacksonville FL, while Mikayla went to school at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse NY.

Long-distance was hard, but it gave us the opportunity to explore a lot of new places together. Our favorite spots in Florida were Little Talbot Island State Park and Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve! In New York, we loved Pratt's Falls County Park, Watkins Glen, and apple picking!

After Mikayla graduated college and Sam finished his contract with the Navy, we moved to Blacksburg (right before the pandemic!) so that Mikayla could start her Masters of Science in Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech (which has since turned into a PhD, oops!). Sam finished his Bachelor of Science in Business Information Technology at Virginia Tech. During our time here, we've both become big Hokies fans!

Sam proposed on October 21, 2022 while doing one of our favorite things -- hiking in the Virginia mountains! He chose the perfect spot on top of Little Stony Man in Shenandoah National Park (one of the first hikes we ever did together back in summer of 2015).