Our story actually doesn't begin with just us. We met through Renee's sister (and matron of honor!), Melissa, who went to Physician Assistant school with Andrew. They sat next to each other in class and became friends. Over the course of their program, we would occasionally interact at random social events they had with their other friends from school. While our recollections might vary on how our early interactions went, we both agree that it was a group trip to Florida in Spring of 2019 where sparks started flying.

After the fateful trip to Florida, Andrew worked hard all summer to try and 'discreetly' get Renee's contact information from Mel. We finally had a way to chat directly and were able to get some one on one time at Mel's wedding.

A few weeks after the wedding, Andrew was visiting his Mom in Pennsylvania. Since he was already a couple of hours closer to Ithaca, NY (where Renee had moved that August for grad school) than usual, he told his Mom he had to go see about a girl and decided to complete the journey to visit for the weekend. This is where we had our first 'official' date at Thirsty Owl Winery (you should visit- Andrew loves the new chef!).

Andrew made several more visits to Ithaca that fall (and Renee to Ohio), and we officially started dating on November 1 during one of his visits in Ithaca. On another visit in December, we said 'I love you' for the first time. Renee had been communicating it secretly the whole visit, and Andrew accidentally said it before bed one night. Renee didn't hear him at first though because she was too focused on tucking Layla into bed.

Andrew started working as a PA in the Emergency Department at the Summa Health System in Akron in January 2020. A few months later, Covid hit. Renee's semester moved online, and she got to spend significantly more time in Cleveland. While the world was mostly shut down, we got to spend some bonus time together at home. Andrew also got to try out some new hairstyles that only Renee had the pleasure of seeing (until now).

Due to Andrew's busy and irregular ER schedule, he knew he couldn't take care of a dog. He also grew up with many cats, so he decided to adopt a 'free' one (thinking it would be lower maintenance than a dog- boy was he wrong) from the streets of Alliance, OH. Beans officially moved in at the end of July. He has filled our hearts and drained our wallets ever since.

A few months after Beans moved in, we set up an opportunity for Layla and Beans to meet. Layla had been around cats when she was in the shelter, but she also is fairly reactive to other animals on leash. We weren't sure how the meeting would go, so Andrew bought a gate to put across his bedroom door and put Beans on the other side. They met at the gate and went crazy. Despite this, when Layla ran to sniff the rest of the apartment, Beans hopped the gate and followed along. Nowadays, we wouldn't be able to keep Beans away from her even if we tried.

We took our first trip together to Aruba. During this trip was the start of when we learned just how high-maintenance Beans really is. Despite daily visits from Andrew's friends, he screamed and wailed so much the neighbors got concerned. Henceforth in our family, Beans' most dramatic cries have been deemed 'Aruba wails'. (Also the trip was incredible!)

In early June, a PA position opened up at the ED in Cortland, NY, 30 minutes from Ithaca, with the same company Andrew worked with in Akron. Lovestruck and grateful for our good luck, Andrew decided to accept the position and put an end to our long distance dating (the Cortland ED liked him so much after his initial visit they didn't even bother to follow up with his Akron references). Shortly after, we took a trip to one of Renee's favorite cities, Phoenix, AZ, where we got to celebrate.

After almost two years of long distance dating filled with tearful goodbyes and many MANY FaceTime dates, the distance vanished when Andrew and Beans moved into Renee and Layla's one bedroom apartment in Ithaca. It was a tight fit (Beans' litter box was in the closet with the water heater) but more than worth every second. It is also when Renee learned that Andrew shouldn't be trusted in a bulk buying store. P.S. Beans Aruba wailed the whole 5 and a half hour ride to Ithaca.

After an extremely long closing process including a necessary trip to Syracuse to release some frustration at iSmash (a place where you pay to get to destroy old things) and months of living out of boxes, we finally got to move into our first (town)house. We split the moving responsibilities evenly: Renee stayed inside to comfort Layla and Beans while Andrew and the movers transported all of the boxes on the coldest day of the year.

In June, we were supposed to go to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada. As the days got closer, it became apparent the lakes and hikes were still too frozen to enjoy. We ended up cancelling and scheduling a last minute trip to Maine. We LOVED it. Renee overcame some of her fears of heights and Andrew summited some peaks for the first time. Later (in March 2023) we attended a Murder Mystery weekend in Chautauqua, NY. We ended up identifying one of the actors at the first cocktail party because he tried to mention Maine in passing but we had too many follow-up questions due to our Maine obsession. We ended up winning the weekend competition by solving the murders!

After weeks of Renee confirming to Andrew that we could stop at the Thirsty Owl Winery again so he could try the new chef's food, on a perfect day with a perfect ring and Renee's family watching, we got engaged when Andrew got down on one knee on the same spot we took our photo on our first date (remember October 22, 2019?!). We spent the rest of the day celebrating along the wine trail and being happier than ever.

After Andrew helping and supporting Renee through her busiest semester yet including co-teaching a 500 student class and going through a recruitment process with two consulting firms, we decided Renee should accept the offer with the Pittsburgh Boston Consulting Group office for a job after graduation. Renee whipped up this bandana for Layla to spread the news, but we realized shortly after sending that if you aren't familiar with what a 'yinzer' is, it might not get the right message across. So, to clarify for all of our non-Pittsburgh family and friends, a yinzer is a Pittsburgh term for someone who lives in Pittsburgh. While we are excited for our next move, we are extremely sad to be leaving Ithaca! It forever holds so many special memories for us, and we can't wait to add our wedding to the list of them.

After years of trying, Renee finally got Andrew on his first trip to Europe when we went to Portugal. She meticulously researched and planned every detail to make sure it was perfect. He got the only seat on the plane without a working tv. It was mostly smooth sailing after that though (aside from a questionable Thai massage, a last-minute journey to recover a bottle of wine, and, if you ask Andrew, only getting to the airport 2 hours and 5 minutes before our flight), and we had an amazing time!

Trying to take advantage of the rest of our time in New York, we took a short trip to hike in the Adirondacks. We hiked our first ADK high peak and experienced some of the most beautiful foliage we'd ever seen.

One year and one day after getting engaged, we had our engagement photo shoot and got to reflect on how excited we are to celebrate our upcoming wedding with all of you! If you've made it this far in our timeline, thanks for reading and know that our timeline wouldn't be nearly as full of love and happy memories without the never-ending love and support we've experienced from our family and friends (like you!!). <3