In the Spring of '23, Grace started coming to my church. In the words of Carolyn Tinker: I would have to be blind not to notice her. And, while some of you know of my eyesight struggles of the past few years - even at its worst, seeing double isn't quite the same as being blind. Let's just say I noticed her. A group of us from Northside would go out or have game nights, and for some reason Grace and I would always end up sitting together. No idea how that happened! Over the next few months, Grace and I became really good friends and bonded over many odd similarities and other total opposites of our life experiences. City boy, small town girl, you know how it goes. The first time it became real for each of us, we spent more than a few hours talking at Montrose beach, a place we'd return to many times over our relationship. Because our church is so small, we took some time to explore what our relationship might look like for a few months before "officially" dating - AKA sitting next to each other in service. In the months and years since, we've had very full lives and spent lots of time with our dear friends. There's never a dull moment with us. We love taking full advantage of our city, going to museums, plays, concerts, the beach, Ravinia (if you don't know it, get on it). A more defining activity of our relationship, however, might be camping. We have really enjoyed getting out of the city to camp (often with Justin and Alice!). We always get in some great hikes and explore the tiny midwestern towns along the way. Grace and I have also had some awesome trips internationally which we loved! Grace always geeks out on the history and reads articles to me as I drive us around. We ride lots of trains too. Through all the fun, we are so grateful for all of you in our community and the roles you all have played in our relationship, from being present and active influences in our lives to being in our broader network of support. We feel very lucky to have so much love and great models all around us.

From the wedding, we drive North. We'll be up in a remote spot on the water in Canada for our honeymoon. Then back to Chicago for a few months where we'll work to get rid of the last of our things. At the end of September, Grace and I are moving to Copenhagen, Denmark! I will be enrolled in a year-long MBA program at Copenhagen Business School, and Grace will be looking for work focused on GIS and sustainability. This is something we've talked about for quite some time, and the stars are aligning for us to be able to do this adventure together at the start of our marriage. We are super excited! We know that while our European gallivanting will be totally awesome, such a big move is bound to also be difficult, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the next year and don't hesitate at all to reach out! BTW: if you're in Scandinavia and don't mind sleeping on an air mattress, we might have just barely enough space to host. :) Also- since we're not really on social media, we're planning on trying some sort of infrequent newsletter to keep all you lovely people in the loop. Make sure you give us a good email address when you RSVP!