Abby and Chris originally met in Asheville, North Carolina. At the time, they kept crossing paths and continued casually having conversations about their careers, their travels, being new to the Asheville area and generally just getting to know you conversations. One day, after a particularly huge storm, the river next to Abby's apartment flooded and she took a video of a particular moment during the flood. She ran into Chris again, and while chatting about the crazy high waters she pulled out the video of some people from the complex saving the hippo at the dog park. Chris said "your dog park doesn't have a hippo, mine does..." And then they realized they both lived in the same apartment complex. She shared her apartment number, and he shared his just as an offhanded comment. Abby said, “look me up sometime.” Of course, he never did. A few weeks later, she was chatting about being new to Asheville and that she was going to go on a trip to Charleston that particular weekend even though she didn’t have any friends yet. Chris, without even thinking about it said, "well if I wasn't working, I would totally come with you." In her mind she thought, "Gosh, he is so kind, maybe he does want to be my friend." Abby then remembered that Chris told her his apartment number and so she wrote a letter, asked him if he wanted to be friends, and shared her contact information if he wanted to reach out. 1 week went by…no word. 2 weeks went by...no word. Abby just thought he didn't want to be friends and understood. Abby then went on a trip to Washington DC and received a surprise text from a random number. It was Chris, and they arranged to grab a beer when she got back. After that beer, Abby and Chris friend-zoned each other for about 6 months. However, during the last half of 2021, they went on random adventures and really got to know each other and build a solid friendship. They explored all over from Biltmore estate, to Bearwallow Mountain. They had casual dinners, made pies, hung out, and shared so many conversations about life, family, faith, and travels. Then, on New Year's Eve in January of 2022, Abby had gotten Covid over Christmas break and he had asked her to grab a beer. She politely declined. He thought she was blowing him off, but she really did have Covid…but a few weeks later, it was a snowy day and she asked if he wanted to go to explore Biltmore Estate together. He replied that he had Covid and she retorted: “It's fine, I had it 2 weeks ago, still want to go on an adventure?” They went on that adventure discovering the Estate together, and she felt a spark that day - they went to a place called the Bamboo Forest near the Lagoon, and she even thought for a split second they would kiss at that moment, but Chris played it off and was just joking that he was going to shake one of the bamboo trees and get snow all over her. Guess there really was a spark... A few weeks later, they went on their first date. And they “officially” started their relationship on March 6th, 2022.

Chris started enacting this whole elaborate plan a week in advance. He mentioned that he wanted to take me on a surprise date night on Saturday the 15th of July, even though we were leaving the next morning for a vacation. I had originally pushed back and mentioned we could stay in and cook, but he was adamant about a date night out, so I let it go and just proceeded with the week. Every night that week, we would do our skincare routines before I left to go back to my apartment. In the middle of the week, he covertly asked both of my parents for their permission and blessing to marry me. Friday night we had gone out and he said he wanted me to do a fashion show to see what I was going to wear for the date night. So, I modeled a few dresses, and he picked one that we both liked. He casually asked what shoes I would be wearing and made sure that was good too. The next morning, he dropped off his credit card for me and told me, “in the name of self-care,” to treat myself to a manicure that day. He said we would be meeting at 5:30 PM. As I was getting ready, I asked if I should curl my hair or straighten it and he mentioned that he’d love for it to be curled. About an hour before we were supposed to meet up, he mentioned he was in his feelings about me moving to Indiana in a couple weeks. At exactly 5:30 PM, I arrived at his car, and he strolled out to greet me. We hopped in, and he leaned over and said, “hey, so since I’ve been in my feelings today, want to go to the Bamboo Forest one last time?” The Bamboo Forest at Biltmore Estate is my favorite place in all of Asheville and he knew I loved it. We walked into the Bamboo Forest, holding hands, and just smiling at one another. We kissed and just made eye contact to take in the moment. Chris then proceeded to say “this will always be the place where you thought I was going to kiss you for the first time. But let’s make a new memory. Will you marry me?” He got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, I jumped up and down, gave an excited "YES!" leaned down to kiss him, he put the ring on, and we were engaged. I asked how he planed all of this and when did he find time to ask my parents? He just smiled at me then said, “well there’s more, turn around.” And a surprise photographer popped out of nowhere. She let us have a few minutes to soak it in and then we headed directly to our engagement photo shoot. Where he’d arranged a dozen red roses, a bottle of Moët champagne, and champagne flutes in a picnic basket on a beautiful blanket right near the Lagoon on The Estate. This man thought of everything. He asked my parents’ permission, he made sure I had clear skin, a dress I loved, and shoes that were cute. He made sure that my nails looked perfect, he made sure my hair looked amazing, he took me to my favorite place in all of Asheville, he had a secret photographer, and he set up a whole engagement shoot after. I was blown away; it was the most perfect surprise ever! Only God could write a story this good, with a man this caring and sweet. The next day, we left for Chile for 11 days and got to celebrate our engagement by exploring Santiago, Patagonia, and Valparaiso; it felt like a National Geographic dream! We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you in Asheville!