Chane invited Alex to a party in October, 2015. Alex was working on a photo project at the time that required her to schedule a portrait session with a new person every day - something that was harder than planned. Chane used that as bait to get her number. "I'll be a subject in your portrait project if you give me your number." Alex "distracted" entered her number into his phone incorrectly. Chane had to approach her - again - and get her to enter it properly.

That Monday, we went to Joe's Inn for dinner. When Alex ordered a pulled pork sandwich and a Bell's Two-Hearted Ale (two of Chane's favorite things), his icey cold heart melted and grew three sizes that day. We very quickly realized we had an alarming amount of things in common, and were both freaked out by how quickly it was evident that "this was it."

Fast forward five years later, in 2020. We were spending the summer in Richmond, after leaving New York during the pandemic. Some friends from New York were coming to visit us down at Chane's family's river house - and to celebrate the surprise engagement that was about to happen. Chane set up the camera to "take a photo of the two of them before their friends arrived" - but of course he had set it up to take a video. He had worked with Alex's childhood friend Heather to redesign his grandmother's engagement ring and it's perfect. We'll be getting married one day shy of exactly two years of engagement. Pretty cool.