Whenever we are asked how we met, it always starts with “well….it’s a long story”. Cody and I met several years ago when we were both in relationships with other people. I was visiting my Florida bestie in March 2017 and UNC was playing in the NCAA tournament. Ashton was at work and suggested I watch the game with her friend who was a big UNC fan and had the day off. She assured me he was a really nice guy and would be cool with taking me out for a basketball game. We had a nice time watching UNC at one of our now favorite beach bars. Totally platonic and we didn’t think anything of it. I fully anticipated never seeing him again and vice versa. Fast forward to July 2019. My Florida bestie was getting married in Italy and I was single with no travel buddy. I was getting ready to tell Ashton the bad news that I wouldn’t be able to join her for her big day since I didn’t feel comfortable traveling overseas solo. Props to Ashton for the brilliant idea that I travel with her other single friend who needed a travel partner. Who else could that be but Cody! We exchanged some text messages about what a crazy idea it would be to travel to Europe with essentially a stranger…which turned into “well…should we?”. We pretty quickly (within 24 hours as I recall) decided to go for it and were booking flights a few days later. We continued talking about how beautiful Tuscany was going to be and then decided “hey, when in Rome?!” Sure, taking an entire week off to traipse around Italy with a stranger seemed like a wild idea but we were going for it! We extended our trip and never looked back. We met in NYC to fly to Italy, took a train to Tuscany and had an incredible weekend celebrating our sweet friends Ashton and Taylor. I will forever be thankful for the assist! After Tuscany, we headed to Rome where we had our first date at a beautiful restaurant on the streets of Rome. Amazing. Despite the amazing date, we parted ways when we got back to the states. Cody went to Florida and I was back to North Carolina. We chalked it up to an amazing story but it would never work at a distance. That is, until Ashton (this girl, again) sent me a job posting about 3 months later for quite literally my dream job at Mayo Clinic. I decided on the spot to apply (not for Cody’s sake despite what he may try to tell you) and less than a month later…I was officially making the move to Florida. Did I mention that I moved in April 2020 amid a pandemic? A whole other story. I settled in to Florida and it took a few more months of casual dates and beach days with friends before Cody and I decided it was inevitable. A story like this can’t end any other way now that I think about it. We dated for two years before Cody called me over one Wednesday afternoon to look at something he found on my dog’s neck. A small charm asking if I would marry Cody and a sweet proposal in the living room of our first house together. A surprise engagement party immediately after with our closest friends. And now a perfect wedding to celebrate our absolutely amazing story.