We met through mutual friends on the Lehigh soccer and wrestling teams. The early days included hanging out at Rathbone, soccer games, house parties, and Molly's. When we both started grad school (Robert at Lehigh and Leah at Duquesne), we took the jump into a distance relationship, visiting on weekends and trips to Vermont and the Adirondacks.

We always talked about getting a dog and decided that when I graduated from Duquesne, before starting school at Drexel, it would be the right time to add a puppy to our family. Stryder is our adventure dog, enduring long road trips between NJ and upstate NY, even to California and back. We love hiking and trail running with Stryder!

While I was living in Pittsburgh for the summer, we met at a Letchworth State Park in NY--halfway between Pittsburgh and Albany. This trip was Robert's idea (!). We spent Friday and Saturday hiking, trail running, visiting waterfalls and riding bikes. After dinner, we took Stryder for one more walk around the park and once we were alone, making sure Stryder didn't jump into the algae pond, Robert popped the question! I said "are you serious?" and then "YES!" and we were engaged.