Somewhere in the Caribbean, in the middle of the ocean, George and I met. That's right...we met on a cruise ship! We were introduced by his long-time family friend Ryan who my mom and I were talking to at the Alchemy Bar (our favorite spot!) George and I awkwardly and nervously said hello, but soon departed ways as we headed to watch the evening show and eat dinner. The show was a hypnotist and of course George and his dad volunteered. While watching the show from the balcony my mom who thought I "melted like butter" when we first met nudged me and said "look there's your future husband on stage". I rolled my eyes because I had known him for only 10 minutes, but turns out...she was right. We met again later that night and ended up talking and laughing until the sun rose the next day. Fun Fact: My mom captured the photo above which taken the week we met on the cruise

After we got back on land, George and I kept talking over text messages and phone calls, but living in two different states was challenging. He booked a last-minute flight only a few weeks after the cruise and met me in Orlando where we had our first official date. After a weekend together we knew we both wanted to make it work, that we were all-in and decided to make it official! We remained long-distance for 11 months traveling back and forth to see each other for long-weekends. In the Summer of 2016 George transferred to a Hyatt in Orlando and moved in with me bringing along Baylee (his dog).

After being together for over 3 years and living together for 2, we had certainly talked about getting married, but that didn't make the proposal any less unexpected. We were in our kitchen dancing and signing to music after eating an amazing home cooked meal talking about how badly I wanted to go to Europe with my family that summer. I didn't realize at the time that George had just asked my parents for permission to marry and had bought a ring. I was wearing sweatpants and using a broom as microphone while he twirled me around the kitchen. He then got a glossy look in his eyes and said that we might not be able to afford Europe because he had just made a big purchase and got down on one knee. I of course said YES and proceeded to cry and ask him if he was serious (as if buying an engagement ring didn't already prove that)! We’re now excited to share our wedding day with you all and start the next phase of our adventure! Side Note: We still went to Europe!