Every great love story has a little twist of fate — and ours started at East Carolina University. After Allison transferred to ECU, she started working at Winslow’s restaurant, completely unaware that the cute guy she’d soon meet there would one day become her forever. At first, we were just friends. Sharing laughs during shifts, swapping stories, and realizing how easy it was to talk to each other. But it didn’t take long before “just friends” started to feel like something more. On May 13th, 2020, we made it official — and our adventure together truly began. After graduation, we packed up and moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, ready to take on the world (and the beach) side by side. St. Pete became our little paradise — sunshine, salty air, and the home where we adopted our sweet dog, Bacot. Florida was full of firsts — our first home together, our first dog, and countless moments that made us realize we were exactly where we were meant to be. We grew closer than ever, and every day felt like another adventure. After a while, we traded palm trees for pine trees and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, to be closer to family and friends — but St. Pete always held a special place in our hearts. Since then, we have moved, traveled all around, and attended more concerts we can count. Last September, we took a little family trip back to St. Pete with Bacot to visit the place that meant the most to us. Jacob had secretly planned something much bigger. What was supposed to be a “dinner reservation” turned out to be a romantic picnic on the beach. The ocean waves were crashing, candles were lit, and Bacot came trotting up the beach with a ring tied around his collar. Jacob got down on one knee, and in that perfect, magical moment, Allison said yes! Now here we are — best friends, partners in crime, and soon-to-be husband and wife — ready to keep writing our favorite story yet.