As Avril Laverne once said, "Now here's the thing, they started off friends..." Six months later would be our first date.

Our second date was a weekend trip to Pittsburgh for homecoming. Lily got bronchitis and Tim lost his wallet. But that didn't ruin the fun.

We made it official in November and got to know each other's friends and families.

We took our first trip together across the country to San Diego to visit Tim's friends. Little did we know that before we even made it home, everything would start shutting down because of COVID.

Sometime in the Spring of 2020, Lily got a call about her dream job. Only problem - it was in Oregon. And so we started to explore what our life might look like on the West Coast.

Luckily, another job came through that allowed us to continue our story in the DMV.

In July, we moved in together and made our little corner apartment in Columbia, MD feel like home. We were having fun and enjoying the simple life we were building.

Moving out of the pandemic, we made it to our first 'plus one' event.

Sometime in spring of 2022, Lily came home with a crazy idea - 'What if I went back to school?' And without hesitation, Tim said, 'Go for it.' And so the two reworked their plans to fit a 3-year doctorate program into the mix.

That same spring, we had a tiny puppy enter our lives throwing it all upside down. Little did we know, Bear would grow to be 70 pounds of muscle, tear up everything we left in his path, and become the center of our lives.

Tim made it to his first country concert... and unknown to Lily he started talking about rings with their friends and family.

Life got busier with new responsibilities, but we kept finding time for little moments together. ...And Lily continued to drop some not so subtle hints about a ring.

After lots of focus on work and life we took a trip to Vegas and California. We got to visit the California dessert and celebrate the love of our friends.

And the next day, Tim finally popped the question. We got to celebrate with friends around us.

And we got to spend our first full day as an engaged couple stuck in a California airport with a canceled flight. Luckily, we found some friends and made the most of the bonus vacation day at Margaritaville in Palm Springs during a wind storm.

And so wedding planning began... We've been taking it slow, letting Lily finish school and enjoying the planning process.

In March, we both started new jobs and did our best to make the best of our new unpredictable commute together.

In June 2024, we moved back to Silver Spring, MD. We are enjoying our shorter commute and being closer to friends and family again.

And we continue to enjoy our busy lives. We are so excited to celebrate with you on 05/30/2025.