Besides the great hashtag, there are some sentimental reasons both James and Darby are choosing to change their last name to "Landing." James and Darby did not know either of their biological fathers very well, if at all. They were both so lucky to be raised by some of the strongest, most bad-ass, single moms around! James was also lucky in that he had an incredible father figure, Buddy Landing, come into his life at a young age and raise him as his own son. Therefore, James and Darby have decided to both change their last names to "Landing" to honor the father-son relationship Buddy has given James. They can't wait to reintroduce themselves to everyone as the Landings in June!

James and Darby met for the first time back in 2014-ish when he was visiting a friend (Dominic, groomsman) while on leave from the Navy. Darby was also at Dom's house with her boyfriend at the time. James thought she was cute, so cute that he insisted on pulling up his shirt to show off his tattoo in the middle of the kitchen. Darby was not as impressed as James had hoped, and the two didn't see much of each other for the next few years. After James left the Navy the two kept running into each other amongst their friend group and they became close friends. They got each other's dry and sometimes dark sense of humor and eventually started going on dates to places that were entirely too fancy for them. After a few months of these adventures and James asking multiple times, Darby finally agreed to be his girlfriend in May 2017.

After 3 years of dating you could say Darby was getting a little "eager" for a ring. James had hinted that something was in the works, even asking Darby to go get her ring size so he could start shopping. And then we all know what happened in March 2020. With stores and manufacturers everywhere closed, their plans were put on hold. The pair instead focused on buying their first home and exploring their new, amazing city of Frederick. As stores started to open back up again, Darby went right back to "gently" reminding James about a ring. During a beach trip in June with MOH Abbey and husband Nate, Darby grilled Abbey about whether James had any plans on proposing soon. Abbey, like the good friend she is, lied to Darby and said James didn't even have a ring. This bummed Darby out to say the least and when James and her returned home she asked James what the plan was. James replied that he wanted to make the engagement really special, and was struggling to do that with COVID regulations. He said "you wouldn't just want me to propose in the house, right?" Darby said she didn't care because at this point she was pretty sure he had zero plans of proposing at all. In a huff, she went off into the laundry room. But when she turned around James was down on one knee holding the most perfect ring in the world. Lots of ugly crying ensued (from both parties, even if James won't admit it) and Darby felt really dumb for bothering James about a ring so incessantly for the past few days. Turns out, he had been ring shopping since March and enlisted the help of everyone he knew, even their realtor, to find the perfect rock. And Darby loves her laundry room even more now!