Come Party with us!

Bryce and I met at the University of Mary Washington. He was a baseball player and a “townie”, I mean who is actually from Fredericksburg (kidding)?! And I played lacrosse. Bryce and I crossed paths numerous times our freshman year on our small campus, neighboring athletic fields and various bars. It wasn’t until the end of our first semester sophomore year that we began paying closer attention to each other. I invited Bryce to the women’s lacrosse winter formal, but due to a unique situation, Bryce had to say no... you can ask Bryce’s mom about this one :) Winter break rolled around and that was that! During the spring of ’18 there was a large snowstorm that happened to fall over St. Patty’s Day weekend, and both our games and practices were cancelled. My mom, aunt and cousin were already planning on spending the snow filled few days in Deep Creek Lake, and I decided I was going to join them. I invited Bryce and let my mom and aunt know that I would be bringing a “friend”. Bryce and I had such a fun car ride listening to music and getting to know each other, while my mom and aunt spent the whole 3 hours guessing what Bryce looked like. I wish you could have seen their faces when Bryce walked in. My mom and aunt started dying laughing and informed us that they expected Bryce to be wearing a backwards baseball hat and to act like a “douche”, their words not mine! We skied Wisp, drank too much green beer and local moonshine, and even came in second in a St. Patty’s Day competition…. Although technical Blair and Shap came in second at a St. Patty’s Day competition. Following our victory, the other bar goers wanted to buy us a shot. I picked fireball and after I took it, my mom told me she was not holding my hair if I threw up. Bryce immediately responded, “oh, I will!”, hence his forever family nickname of “hair tie”. A few weeks later, I broke the news to my family that we were shockingly more than just friends. Ever since that weekend we have been growing stronger together with so many exciting milestones behind us! We continued to date the rest of college, survived a long-distance relationship that consisted of covid, two new careers, two master’s degrees, countless pilot certifications, a total career shift for Bryce, and ended up living together in our sweet little apartment in Arlington, VA. We feel so lucky to have each other and all of you in our lives!

Abby and I got engaged in August of this year, just in time. I was given an ultimatum to ask her to marry me prior to December 3rd. The significance of the date? The day our lease needed to be renewed. The idea of buying a ring and spending the rest of my life with the girl of my dreams all started about 4 months prior, after we lived together for a few months and any question of us being able to tolerate each other were answered. Well kind of, I never had a doubt. I had been thinking about purchasing an overpriced piece of compressed carbon for a long time, and she had too because she told me exactly what she wanted. Abby’s sister and mom called me out of the blue one day when I was working from home and decided it was time. Having had similar thoughts, I agreed. We slowly devised a plan consisting of where to do it, when to do it, and most unfortunately for my wallet, where to buy it. As it turns out, over the years Abby’s grandparents and great aunt and uncle have spent a small fortune at a jewelry shop in Maryland. They created a strong relationship with the owners, so we figured we’d start there. We all met up at the jewelry store on a secretive day in July. When we walked in, I told the jeweler my budget and we were met with some undesirable options (which my helpful jury agreed). Their diamond supply guy was a few hours away with some more realistic choices, so we decided to go to lunch. Thankfully Lori brought her Camera to document the entire trip and had the idea to have the strongest marriages in Abby’s life provide some marital advice. It was a great idea, but Jerry went on a tangent and forgot the question after about a 5-minute speech. Great speech, wrong topic. One day we’ll watch the footage and decipher the wisdom. We went back soon after and immediately knew the diamond as soon as we saw it, it was exactly what Abby described thousands of times. I bought it, excitedly and nervously. Blair, Lori, and I had come up with an ingenious plan to ask Abby after she finished her World Championship Ironman race in Lahti, Finland. A beautiful backdrop, after an incredible feat; the plan couldn’t have been better. We had a photographer booked, a nail appointment the day after so she could still be surprised, and dinner reservations to celebrate. Naturally we needed Abby’s family there, but slowly there were complications with getting everyone across the ocean. The final straw was Stone, Abby’s nephew, who could not come because of some clerical issues with his passport (thanks, Jack…kidding of course). I found this out on a random Thursday morning when Blair called me with a new plan, to ask Abby 3-days later, on a Sunday. I agreed on a whim and the plan was set. I’d ask her on a piece of land that she owns at the top of Wisp in Deep Creek Lake, the place of our first date. My parents picked me up in Arlington and we drove to the DCL. I don’t recall being nervous, but my mom did say, “you’re being an ass” because she took a little too long selecting an outfit in a gas station on the way. We got to the land and hid in the bushes as Blair forced Abby to put on makeup and a white dress. My family, half of Abby’s, and I hid in the bushes waiting for her. She walked onto her property seeing and calling for her nephew and I ducked in from behind a tree. Honestly from there I blanked. She was so beautiful, and the smile on her face made everything worth it as I dropped to a knee. I never truly had a plan with what to say, nor do I remember exactly what I said, but I remember the theme involving how she is the most important person in my life, and I couldn’t imagine going a day without her. Success. See you in Deep Creek!