Stuck in the house for most of 2020, Avery and Tori initially made friends over Instagram. A bit of chit-chat here and there revealed some mutual favorite interests -- baking, doll and toy collection, Colin Farrell movies (the more obscure the better!), Phantom of the Opera, and the movie spinoff of a certain popular wizard-based franchise, among others -- and over time, a chance friendship slowly bloomed into something more. We made plans to meet in Virginia for the first time in September 2022, where we had many romantic first dates (okay, we ate Stouffer's macaroni and cheese while a pair of cats crawled all over us ... hey, that IS romantic!), and have been together ever since. We've shared tons of adventures together, from the Queen City Magic Festival in Staunton to the Olde Toy Shoppe in St. Clair Shores, and we've kept the distance from Michigan to Virginia feeling as small as possible until we finally made a home together this year. We proposed to each other in the summer of 2024: Avery asked Tori in the penguin exhibit at Shedd Aquarium, and Tori surprised Avery at the Silent Night Memorial Chapel at Bronners in Frankenmuth. We've had so much fun together and we're so excited to see where our story goes from here!