We most likely first met sometime in elementary school, but the first meeting we actually remember was when Nick came over to drop off some books before Carley’s freshman year of high school. While our moms talked, Carley asked Nick just about every question she could think of about classes, soccer, and life at John Carroll. Apparently, he made a pretty good first impression because after a lot of texting and stopping to talk at our lockers, we officially became “us” on December 3, 2018. For the next three years, we spent our days walking back and forth between each other’s houses down the road - or, as Nick likes to say, Carley was very “geographically desirable.” After high school, Nick headed to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis while Carley went to Auburn, and suddenly “down the road” became hundreds of miles apart. Between trips to Annapolis, weekends in Auburn, lots of FaceTimes, and even more countdowns, we learned there really is some truth to “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” On September 19, 2025, we got engaged, and soon after, Nick left for his first deployment in Spain. It was the farthest we’d ever been from each other, but somehow, we’d never felt closer. After years of walking down the road, flying between Auburn and Annapolis, and crossing an ocean to get to each other, we’re pretty excited that the next distance we get to walk is down the aisle. We can't wait to celebrate with all of our favorite people!