I usually tell people that JP and I met in the summer of 2014. In reality, we probably crossed paths a few years before that. We met volunteering and then working at a residential summer camp for kids and adults with developmental disabilities (Camp I Am Special). We got along pretty well, bonding over Lil Wayne in the dining hall at 630am, the Wobble, and grilled cheese sandwiches during the summers of 2014 and 2015. After those summers we had to *grow up* and focus on our futures. We kept loosely in touch as I finished my time at UF and started nursing school while he graduated from Flagler and started teaching. We'd occasionally meet up with our same group of camp friends at the beach bars, and he'd buy me cherry vodka sodas since he was the only one with a grown up job! We decided to give dating a try several weeks after I graduated with my BSN from UNF in August 2018. After a lot of back and forth, we decided that we couldn't go wrong with a Jumbo Shrimp game on dollar beer night. JP left to grab us beers and came back with massive Bud Lights and gigantic bratwursts. We had a great time, even though JP informed me immediately after that he actually hates baseball. Several weeks later, he was introducing me to his friends as his "special friend" and since then we have been inseparable. Everything with us has been so easy and I'm so excited for forever!

Sarah and I officially met in 2014 working at Camp I am Special summer camp for individuals with special needs. Obviously, this camp is near and dear to me because it inspired my career and helped shape the man I am today, but it also laid a tremendous foundation for our relationship. We would often get paired up to lead groups together so we became quick friends. Usually when the summer ends, camp friends drift apart until the next summer, but I made sure to always keep tabs on Sarah. I would send her random snapchat messages throughout the year to see what she was up to and make sure that she did not forget about me. She swears up and down that I did not have feelings for her, but I was definitely crushing on her. Our friend groups were tied together because of camp, so I would often buy her a drink or two when we would all go out to the bars. She thinks that I was just trying to flaunt my money since I was older and the only one in the group with an adult job, but I was trying to win her over with the slow burn. Every time she would say thanks for the drink and bat her eyelashes at me, I would get more smitten. While she went to nursing school, she fell off the grid a little bit, but we still tried to stay in touch. We were traveling in different directions, but did not realize that we would converge at the same spot. That spot was my housewarming party. Sarah had just graduated nursing school and I had just ended a chaotic tinder phase so the timing just worked. After reconnecting at the party, we decided to go on a date. I had been on a number of first dates, but I knew this one was different. I was nervous the whole time, but ecstatic that I could be myself. She was my friend for years and I did not have to try and be anything I was not. She agreed to a second date and we began to go on dates every Thursday after that. After a month or two, I realized that I wanted these dates to happen every day and that this was different. I wanted to share my life with her.