We suggest staying in Cambridge, Maryland.

In October of 2018, Nadia and I both won jobs with the USAF Band in Washington, DC. Shortly after, one of our future colleagues started a text thread to discuss music and make a list of songs we might play for our upcoming deployment. A great vocalist who I worked with in San Antonio at the time had met Nadia, and told me she thought we would be great together. I was moving to DC in January of 2019, and had planned my drive to take me through several cities I had never visited. One of those was Nashville, where Nadia lived. I knew she played gigs on Broadway, so I thought I would reach out and see if she was working the night I was in town. She was not working that evening, but suggested coffee the next morning at her favorite spot, Crema. With my two dogs in tow, I met Nadia at the cafe. As soon as I saw her, I knew she was special. I remember being struck with how beautiful, warm and friendly she was. Anyone who knows Nadia knows she is an incredible person with a great zeal for life, and her enthusiasm rubs off on all of those around her. Later that morning, I continued my drive to DC, and I could not get her out of my mind. About 7 months later, we started dating. Since then, we have deployed twice, traveled to 10 countries together, got engaged in Alaska, bought a house, and continue to experience new adventures together every day. I cannot wait to marry this girl!

Daniel and I had just won our jobs in DC. I was still living in Nashville waiting to go to basic training, but was on a text thread with my future band to coordinate music for our upcoming deployment. Dan texted me that he would be driving through Nashville with his two dogs and asked if I wanted to meet up. We went to my favorite coffee shop, Crema, and sat outside with the dogs, despite it being a cold January day. I remember thinking he was nice and that his dogs were cute. Fast forward to June of 2019, I was fresh out of basic training and everything was going wrong. I hadn't been paid by the Air Force, like at all, despite enlisting five months prior, and was having to borrow money from my parents (so embarrassing!). My things hadn't arrived from Nashville yet, I missed my Nashville friends and was having a really hard time settling into my new life. Daniel asked me if I was going to our friend's birthday party and I just exploded on him that I didn't know. Instead of running away thinking about what a whack job this chick was, he was so kind and patient. He asked me what was wrong and if he could help, and let me know he would always be there if I needed. I remember being surprised at how caring he was and knew at that moment that Daniel Dowling was a really special person I wanted to be friends with. We didn't start dating until that summer, and we tried to keep it a secret until we were sure it was a relationship that would last more than a few months, but apparently everyone knew. I guess people don't call their friends "babe" in public. Who knew?!