Their worlds collided when they both transferred to Towson University in 2012. While in anatomy class, Vinnie sat in front of Chelsea. Throughout the weeks of the first semester, their conversations grew from clarifying anatomy questions to “hello”s, and Vinnie regularlyremarking how impressed he was with Chelsea’s extensive colored pen collection for note taking. These interactions continued until one day Vinnie mustered the courage to make conversation with Chelsea on their walk to the library, where they ended up sitting together and talking for hours. Regular study sessions followed this library sit-and-chat, and then Vinnie and Chelsea began meeting up after lacrosse practice, getting together for morning coffees — and the rest is in the books!

After Chelsea took her Step 2 board exam for medical school, Vinnie surprised her with a hiking trip to Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park. Chelsea found it odd that the ever-hyper Vinnie was taking his sweet old time to get up to the top of the mountain. She later learned Vinnie’s unusually slow pace was a stall tactic to ensure all the elements of his surprise proposal would fall into place before they reached the mountain’s peak. Their families were simutaneously hiking the opposite side of the mountain and had planned to hide in the bushes to surprise Chelsea at the top after Vinnie popped the question. Chelsea’s eyes widened when their family ran out, weilding a celebratory champagne bottle and a video camera, on which they secretly captured the entire proposal. The engagment celebration continued to Barboursville Vineyard, where Vinnie had set up dinner reservations and booked the family beautiful vintage cottages to stay in and enjoy a sprawling view of the surrounding rolling hills.