Sam and Garrison met in 2017 when both of them were in South Carolina over Winter Break. Sam had a photography assignment due within the first few weeks of the new semester starting. This is the first photo that Sam has of Garrison.

Being three hours away from one another, we spent weekends on the road, alternating which one would drive to see the other. We were invited to spend spring break together on the coast. This is the first photo we have together that is not a selfie.

Just two months into the relationship, we took a leap of faith and bought tickets to a music festival in Boston that was still three months away. We had a backup plan to sell the tickets online if we didn't make to to May. Thankfully, that backup plan never came to fruition.

We spent as much time as we could together on the weekends and during breaks from school. We moved in together during the summer and took multiple small trips outside of the city. Here we were in Pidgeon Forge with Sam's longtime friend, Averie, who is now going to be the witness for our private marriage ceremony.

Garrison graduated from college about a year and a half into our relationship. We had to make a decision to either continue our long distance relationship, or move closer together.

Garrison moved to Charlotte to be with Sam while he was finishing school. Garrison ended up living with Allison, his best friend from college and her cat, Luna.

With Garrison working as a full-time nightshift nurse, and Sam working and going to school full-time, we did not have much time together as we thought we would when Garrison moved to Charlotte. We found new hobbies, like tennis, that we could learn together and bond over.

In early 2020, the couple adopted their first dog, Harper. They quickly fell in love with her and she quickly became part of the family.

Being a nurse at the time of the pandemic, Garrison was often working long hours. We made sure to continue prioritizing our time together as much as possible and supporting each other.

Once the vaccine against COVID-19 rolled out to the general population, we started looking to move away from Charlotte, as Sam had finished his undergrad degree. We travelled to San Fransisco to see if we would want to start a new chapter of our lives there.

While we were in San Fransisco, Garrison surprised Sam with a marriage proposal. We were driving down Highway 101 from San Fransisco to Monterrey and stopped at a little viewpoint to look at the coast line.

Shortly after we got back from our trip, we decided to add a second dog to the family. We brought Jax home in mid-July.

Harper was not too sure about the arrangement at first. The baby of the family was starting to feel a little crowded.

Within a few weeks, we were back to the west coast to visit Averie in Portland. We spent the week checking out all of Portland's staples and living like locals.

During their trip, Sam proposed to Garrison in Government Cove in the Columbia River Gorge. As an engagement present, Averie hired Amber Fenton Photography to take surprise engagement photos for us during the proposal. You can see more of the engagement photos in the "Photos" tab on our website.

We moved to Portland in late 2021 after visiting a few months earlier. We fell in love with the city so much that we decided to pack up all of our things and move to the west coast.

With mask mandates back in action, we spent ample time exploring the outdoors and all of the nature that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

As the city started to relax it's pandemic response, we got out and started taking part in all of the iconic Portland attractions. Sam's favorite date was going to a tulip farm and getting to ride the hot air balloon above the fields of blooming flowers.

Harper eventually learned to love her big brother. All it took was a 3,000 mile move across the country to make her warm up to him.

After a year in the city, we decided to put down permanent roots. We bought a house in Northeast Portland.

We have continued to pour or energy into making a home for our little family of four.

A photo of us on one of our many date nights around town.

We continue to push ourselves to become better partners to one another and find new ways to express our trust and love for each other.

We will be getting married at a courthouse ceremony this fall. We will celebrate with friends on November 9 at an intimate gathering near our home.