It’s a very Tinder story…Sarah and I met on Tinder. God bless the internet and their algorithms! In the spring of 2017, Sarah was living in Houston with a good job and good friends, but felt like a piece of the puzzle was missing. She quit her job in Houston, sold her house, packed up and headed to Atlanta, not knowing a soul in the city and having no idea what was in store for her. About a year later, she found her missing puzzle piece. Hilliary and her best friend Katy were taking their annual trip to see the Avett Brothers at Red Rocks when Katy suggested that Hilliary download Tinder to meet some new folks. Hilliary took her sage advice and “accidentally SUPER-liked” Sarah’s profile because she was wearing a Mount Rushmore t-shirt while standing in front of Mount Rushmore. Sarah was immediately smitten with Hilliary’s profile because she posted a photo of herself gazing longingly at a slice of Antico’s pizza. Love at first slice. We began messaging each other and Sarah knew instantly Hilliary was someone she wanted to get to know better. Our first date was halfway between Atlanta and Blue Ridge in Canton, GA. We had a lovely dinner at Queenies, but the real magic was sitting on a park bench until the early morning hours talking about any and everything. Family, faith, music, and Chipps Cooney. Sarah texted her best friend the night after their first date stating she was “going to spend the rest of my life with this girl”. Our second date was a hike up Kennesaw Mountain. After a “moderate to strenuous” hike up the mountain and our first selfie later, we enjoyed a Goldfish crackers and Craft beer picnic at the end. We were 7 days into this budding relationship, but I felt like I had known Sarah my entire life. Watching Sarah turn right towards the Atlanta highway in the opposite direction of my travels was heartbreaking. I knew from that point forward that I wanted to spend the rest of my life hiking through life with the gentle ginger engineer.

We spent our weekends alternating between Atlanta and Blue Ridge. Our weekends in Blue Ridge consisted of hiking with our dogs and our weekends in Atlanta consisted of finding new restaurants and neighborhood festivals. After going back and forth for 6 months, Hilliary put a For Sale sign in her yard. We rented a Penske truck, and started a new life together renovating a 100 year old brick bungalow in our dream neighborhood. Hilliary treated Sarah to coffee and Sarah treated Hilliary to her favorite retail store, Home Depot. Weekends consisted of coffee and Home Depot runs, learning how to refinish wood flooring, drum sanders, dust collection systems, Biofreeze, and wood stain. June 1, 2019, Hilliary surprised Sarah with a date day. We started our day with a bagel and smear from Goldberg’s Deli (Hilliary’s Dad Loved Goldbergs) and headed to Kennesaw Mountain for another hike. We settled into our picnic spot (same spot from our second date) and enjoyed Goldfish crackers and a craft beer with the sounds of Leon Bridges serenading us. Hilliary asked Sarah to marry her. Her engagement ring was made from Black Walnut and Bethlehem Olive wood, her favorite two wood species. We weren’t parting ways after this hike, but starting our new life together as one.