We're getting married on the beach!

Gatlinburg, TN Amanda and Paul decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Gatlinburg on March 28, 2024. Amanda hadn’t been since she was very little and would always hear about how much people loved going there. We booked a nice cabin on a mountain and headed down with Paisley. We arrived late in the evening since we left after work. The next day, we got ready to go shopping and explore the area. Before we left, Paul decided to pop the question, because he knew Amanda wouldn’t want all that attention in a public place (lol). It was very sweet and of course she had to say yes! We then went to Ole Smokey distillery and did a moonshine sampling. Amanda couldn’t handle how strong they were, so Paul drank most of hers too. It was a fun, amazing and relaxing get away, and will forever cherish the memories that we made. We can’t wait to go back to the Smokies.

Amanda had been working at Lowe’s in Davenport, IA for a summer job before moving to Washington state (to be with her previous spouse) in the fall of 2005. She decided when she moved that she would transfer from Lowe’s in Davenport to Lowe’s in Mount Vernon, WA. Amanda quickly made friends at Lowe’s in Mount Vernon, with Paul being one. Our group of friends often got together after work or on the weekends. We quickly discovered we had a lot of strange things in common (our last names and our birthdays being one letter different and one day apart). Amanda eventually had to quit working at Lowe’s due to not being allowed to take off work around Christmas time. She later moved to Oak Harbor, WA, but still kept in touch with Paul and other friends from Lowe’s. Amanda and Paul would play Xbox together from time to time. A lot of time passed by, and eventually Amanda moved to Louisiana in 2008 and then Ohio in 2010. Every year from 2006 on, we would always wish each other Happy Birthday - that never stopped. On Amanda’s birthday October 16, 2021, Paul did his regular happy birthday message to Amanda and said something along the lines of, “ it looks like you have a good life”, and at the time Amanda was NOT having a “good life”. She was in the pre-planning phase of leaving her spouse. She quickly let Paul know of her situation, and they began talking daily after that. Amanda escaped from her awful marriage, and moved out in November of 2021. Amanda managed to sneak a trip to Washington and saw Paul and other friends. When they saw each other again it was an instant reconnection from their past. A month later, Paul came to Ohio to see Amanda and met her daughter Avery. Avery fell in love with Paul almost instantly. Paul made the official move to Ohio in late February of 2022. (Please keep in mind he was not forced to move, but he was told that Amanda could not leave Ohio due to shared parenting plan with Avery). Since the move, we’ve been living in a temporary apartment which became permanent due to cost of living (yikes)…but great news is we are actively home searching. We also added a child together - Paisley Jade in February 2023. We’ve moved pretty fast since 2021, but it’s been an amazing ride, and our love continues to grow fonder each day. Life with 2 kids is busy, but also extremely challenging and rewarding with a special needs child (Avery). We are a great team and manage those challenges very well together. We both love to shop and travel and have seen many states together along with the girls. We’re hoping our next trip after the wedding will be an Austim on the Seas cruise and/or a trip to Washington.