We’re getting married!

Peyden and Hillary met online (thanks Bumble!) in June of 2020 and had their first date on 06/14/2020 at Coolidge Park in Chattanooga. They met up for ice cream at Ice Cream Show, walked across the Walnut Street bridge, and sat on a bench in the park talking, laughing and getting to know each other (Peyden even boldly did some card tricks). They then grabbed some seltzers at Publix (where a man, who has yet to be seen again, was outside playing the accordion) and went to Peyden's place where they continued to talk and listen to music on the roof. As Peyden and Hillary began to get to know each other better they learned about how parallel their lives had been for the past 22 years before meeting. They both attended UTC from 2016-2020, having multiple mutual friends, and even living around the corner from each other their sophomore year. Even crazier was that Peyden grew up in Puryear, TN and both of Hillary’s parents and most of her extended family are from Murray, KY, about 15 minutes away. Hillary spent many summers and holidays in Murray, right down the road from Peyden. They both even had their 2nd birthday parties at the same pizza restaurant! It feels like they were fated to find each other from the start. By July 26th they were "officially" girlfriend and boyfriend, and they spent tons of time together going on adventures. They created a Google document titled "Hillary and Peyden's ULTIMATE Date Bucket List" where they each added ideas like "go camping at Max Patch in Asheville, NC", "put together a jigsaw puzzle", and "eat Chinese takeout on top of a parking garage downtown" and marked off hundreds of ideas one by one together. In January of 2022 they moved to Paris, TN when Peyden began PA school. During this time Peyden was in school, studying, or in his clinical rotations for a LARGE majority of the time. However, they also managed to make lasting friendships with the other members of the PA class and their partners, spend time with Peyden's family in Puryear, TN and Hillary's family in Murray, KY, and even adopt their dog, Indy! With only a 2 week notice, Peyden got his elective rotations in Chattanooga, so they moved back on October 28, 2023 after frantically searching for and finding an apartment in a great location. Peyden completed his family medicine and emergency medicine clinical rotations, passed his PANCE, and became a certified Physician Assistant in May of 2024. And after just a few months, in October, he landed his first PA job in sleep medicine as well as an offer for an emergency medicine position in McMinnville, TN. Hillary and Peyden got engaged on their 4 year anniversary, July 26th, 2024. They had dinner at one of their favorite local Italian restaurants, Alleia, followed by ice cream at Clumpie's and a walk in Coolidge Park where they had their first date. They sat on the bench where they spent much of their first date overlooking the river when Peyden proposed. They are looking forward to many more years of adventures alongside each other and their loved ones and are so excited to celebrate their love for one another on October, 25, 2025 with their closest friends and family!