Not so long ago in the Panhandle of Florida, there was a recent college graduate who landed her first ‘real’ job as a wildlife biologist with the Florida Forest Service when she happened upon a small-town boy from Plant City whose dream was to be an aviator and save lives. He was patient and kind, as she was not looking for a relationship at the time; but he won her over with his quirky sense of humor and adventurous spirit. Although he lived on the other side of town at first and she still had her one-bedroom apartment right outside of the University, they spent much of their time together that summer discovering many similarities like their love of whisky, the beach, and tubing down the Blackwater River. His birthday was the first time he shared those three little words, and she knew this was a forever type of love.

Seven months later, he moved to the small town of Milton, Florida to continue flight school and she was thrilled! This is the town where she worked, but not lived. Together, they decided to move in together with three other roommates, also in flight school. About a year later, they decided it was time to get a place of their own on Merrill Drive; about a 10-minute commute to his job and an hour and a half from her new job in her desired field as a marine biologist. They were happy and life was good!

The day he graduated from flight school on the first of October 2021 is the day he got down on one knee, in front of both their family and friends, and asked her to take his last name. Of course, she said “yes!”. It wasn’t shortly after that they found out the Coast Guard was sending them to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico for their next duty station. So they left early January 2022 with their dog, Nora, and cat, Peaches, to embark on this new island adventure, together!

One adventure down, forever to go!