For those of you who don't know, we grew up in the same hometown - with overlapping friend circles - and kinda sorta always vaguely knew of each other's existence, but it wasn't until our college years that we really went "ah, you're a real person".

Ray joined the Navy. Tasha bummed around at home and dabbled in software engineering once upon a time ago.

When Ray started considering getting out of the Navy, he decided to hit Tasha up over LinkedIn to grab a coffee and catch up. The rest is history*.

* Okay, this is the stuff you really care about.

We went on a super awkward first date at a Thai restaurant, but Ray was really determined to keep seeing Tasha, particularly because he felt a spark. At this point, Ray was renting an hour away while Tasha finished up college and moved back in with their folks. Every day, he made it a point to visit them.

This dedication was one of many things that convinced Tasha to say "yes", even though Ray totally proposed on their father's birthday during a family vacation. (Coincidentally, the wedding will be Tasha's parents' anniversary. This was not planned.)

Now we're stuck together. For life. Thank you for joining us on our special day!