Evan and Katie met at a college gathering in the fall of 2014, at East Carolina University. Evan had his sight set on another girl before Katie courageously walked up to him at the bar and stole a beverage out of his hand. Evan was in disbelief as Katie strutted off to find her friends. Evan had no choice but to follow her and introduce himself. An hour or so later Katie and her friends left, but not before Evan got her number. The following day, Evan texted Katie saying it was nice meeting her and invited her to a cook out….she did not reply. Evan was then left speechless when Katie showed up to the cook out that afternoon. After contemplating whether or not to go up to Katie, Evan built up enough courage to do so. A natural chemistry seemed to form between the two and a few months later they were officially dating.

Evan graduated from ECU in May 2015 and immediately started his career in Richmond, VA. Katie still had her senior year ahead of her and the two decided to try long distance. Richmond to Greenville was a three-hour drive, which became increasingly harder to travel as the months went by. After a year, Evan was promoted to a new position in Yorktown, VA which was 30 minutes closer to Greenville. Katie decide to go for a victory lap at ECU which meant another year of long distance. Every weekend, one of the two were traveling up or down I-95 to see the other. Yorktown was a quiet weekend get away for the couple while Greenville was full of friends, football and downtown. While tolerable the road got a little rocky when Katie graduated and moved home to Winston- Salem and started her career with the YMCA. The 2.5-hour drive turned into a 6-hour drive. After a few years of long distance, the couple both finally got to Raleigh where they bought a townhouse and their crazy, ball of energy puppy, Riley.

One of the best things to have come out of 2020 was Evan’s proposal to Katie. Evan had originally planned to take Katie to Washington D.C. in early March. D.C. had become the couples favorite place to visit when Evan was living in VA. As the couple was two weeks away from their trip the world was shut down due to COVID-19, forcing Evan to come up with other plans. A new plan took shape throughout summer, Evan waited for the right opportunity to present itself. With the help of Katie’s sister and brother in law, Courtney and Zach, Evan constructed a plan to propose overlooking the lawn at The Biltmore. As they arrived, Katie denied Evan’s request to take a picture but Courtney forced her to take one. Before the pictures were taken Evan turned to Katie and said “Babe”… Tears followed and nobody really remembers what was said next expect a big “YES!” from Katie before Evan even asked the question. Six years of love, happiness, challenging conversations, growth and understanding wrapped up in a beautiful way.