...Finally!

During the week of our wedding, we will have been together for 12 years!

Our story begins in the halls of Lincoln/Roosevelt Upper Elementary School (almost 20 years ago!?). Kevyn and Allison were in the SAME homeroom in 6th grade with Mrs. Justice! We're pretty sure we sat across from one another, too. But, we don't recall saying a single word to one another; we were both pretty quiet. In fact, Allison is completely convinced Kevyn wasn't in this class at all....

Although we had countless honors classes together at Roxbury High School, we didn't start chatting until senior year gym class, where we bonded over a lack of participation and many laps around the track. The foundation of our friendship was bantering, teasing, laughter, and the occasional complaint about calculus or college applications. (Actually, this is pretty much what our day-to-day looks like ten years later.) The summer after graduation, we continued to spend increasingly more time together...

Traveling between universities (NJIT in Newark, NJ and Drexel in Philadelphia, PA) was no easy feat. At least, not for Kevyn, who had never used public transportation before. Leaving in the morning, his train ride strangely took until dusk to arrive on his first visit. That's commitment! (In hindsight, this is a 2-leg trip on NJ Transit that should take no more than 3 hours and goes pretty much door-to-door). But, Kevyn was not alone; at the end this same visit, Allison proceeded to drop Kevyn off at the exit of the subway, insisting that this was the train station to return safely home. This led to more confusion and walking in circles, just one block away from 30th Street Station. We can laugh about this now, but boy, was it stressful! Our college days were filled with late-night phone calls talking about nothing and everything, texts with no traceable start or end, and always counting down the days until our next weekend trip to see one another. We explored Philly and (to a lesser, safer extent) Newark, often getting lost and finding unplanned adventures. Kevyn also made a pretty great pen pal too, though he insisted that snail mail was clearly inefficient...

Post-College, we both jumped into working life, with Kevyn coding for small startups (in his pajamas) and Allison landing a middle-school teaching job (with the best co-workers and students!). We were fortunate that our parents lived 5 minutes away from one another, so we tackled being young-adults with many family dinners and walks around the neighborhood (especially during the COVID-lockdown). Five years of living at home was well-worth it because we saved up enough to purchase our house in September of 2022. Allison dragged Kevyn to open-house after open-house, and the moment Kevyn finally expressed interest in one saying "oh, this is nice," we knew it was time to pull the trigger and make an offer! We closed on our forever-home in Oak Ridge, NJ, just 25 minutes from both of our parents. Contrary to popular opinion, living together was easy! Although we were never co-inhabitants of an apartment or dorm, everything fell into place without a hitch, as if we'd been living together for years. No major fights, although Allison did learn that Kevyn never closes cabinet doors, and Kevyn learned that despite presenting as organized, Allison loved making piles of things on the floor, especially when she was stressed! We fell into a comfortable routine for the next 2+ years.

The engagement itself happened pretty quick, from looking at rings online to planning the proposal. Kevyn knew from his parents that "when it's time to get married, she'll let you know." The perfect spot was Liberty State Park, one of our first dates. Kevyn arranged a picnic that quickly evolved into a 5-course banquet, to Allison's delight. Sharing exact coordinates, a plea for help, and a generous bribe to the Uber-Eats drivers, Kevyn had his fingers crossed that all the stars would align that evening (including a photographer which Kevyn last-minute hired that same morning.) Meanwhile, Allison was surprised when not only Sushi arrived, but also tacos, nachos, empanadas, milkshakes, salads, a selection of pastas, and chicken parm appeared at the picnic blanket. (We had leftovers for the whole next week!) A short walk along the boardwalk was next after the feast, where Kevyn got down on one knee... and...

Well, that's it. And now, what you've all been waiting for: Our Wedding! We are so excited to celebrate with friends and family from all around the world on Friday, September 12, 2025 at Rock Island Lake Club in Sparta, NJ. This is just 7 minutes away from our forever-home. <3