Marcus and Stephanie met in Lexington, Kentucky as Marcus began his laboratory science career and Stephanie finished up her doctorate in pharmacy. They fell in love over their mutual appreciation of bourbon, adventure, and sassy humor. Even though their first year of romance had its difficulties as they navigated long distance, Marcus and Stephanie made the most of every minute and spent time together visiting festivals and fairs, trying new restaurants, going apple picking and getting lost in corn mazes, meeting and loving one another’s families, and celebrating their mutual love of Christmas. By early Spring, Stephanie matched with Novant Health for residency training and their adventures in North Carolina soon began.

While time was spent catering to the demands of residency, Marcus and Stephanie still found time to explore what North Carolina had to offer. Their love continued to strengthen through this time of transition and were able to create a sound foundation because of it. Before they knew it, that year of residency was over and Marcus and Stephanie focused on enjoying and celebrating their lives. After a beautiful summer together, Marcus proposed to Stephanie in one of her favorite places: a sunflower field!

As Marcus and Stephanie begin to plan for the rest of their lives, they are excited to see where life takes them and they know that it will be worth it as long as they are together.