Hughes and Caity first met with the aid of some mutual friends and beer mile shenanigans in the Raleigh running scene, although Caity will admit to having eyes for Hughes as soon as she saw him and his greyhound Bella sitting on the stoop of a local running shop. It took a couple years and some "research" on Hughes' end before the two went on their first date at The Haymaker bar in December of 2020. The bar had made pandemic accommodations and they shared spicy wizard cocktails - aka fun wintery drinks - served in holiday-themed vessels in an outdoor heated bubble (strange times). During the past five years of dating, Caity and Hughes have supported each other through challenging and rewarding jobs in healthcare, the completion of Caity's graduate degree, Hughes' work in the emergency room during the pandemic and post-pandemic landscape, and the pursuit of many shared and individual hobbies. Amidst mismatched work schedules, Caity and Hughes have maintained their sense of adventure and made the most of their shared free time. They have cooked hundreds of meals while spinning their favorite records, run trails together all over the country, stayed out too late on school nights at live shows, and prioritized traveling to enjoy each other’s company in new places. They've cliff-jumped and enjoyed farm-to-table meals in the green mountain state of Vermont, navigated mountain biking trails in the high and low desert of Arizona, shared huckleberry ice cream in Oregon, and most recently enjoyed the views and wildlife of the coast and mountains in Costa Rica (fun fact: they have gone mountain biking together on every shared vacation since they started dating). Caity and Hughes and their two hounds Huckleberry and Bella currently reside "between two porches" near downtown Raleigh with the scenic Dorothea Dix Park just in their backyard. Hughes proposed to Caity while biking in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. They can't wait to celebrate this next step with their favorite people in their beautiful home state. And enough is enough with this third-person stuff! If you're reading this, you are one of these people and we love you so, so much.