Our story began September 23rd, 2017. It all started with a message from Charles on an online dating app, and we began to message each other regularly. We decided to finally meet in person a month later. On October 21st we met and had our first date at the circus! We continued messaging each other and saw each other whenever possible. In December we went on our very first vacation together. We traveled to Fripp Island, South Carolina with some of my family. We had a beautiful and chilly vacation, as it seemed we had brought the Ohio weather with us. I was hinting at Charles all week hoping to get him to say the L word first. On our last day of vacation we went to the end of the island to watch the sunset over the ocean. As we stood there and watched the silhouette of dolphins swimming in the sunset I was trying to gather up the courage to say those three little words myself. I was just too nervous to say them outloud, so instead we watched the sunset with unspoken words lingering between us. Later that night as we lay in bed, I finally gave in to my heart and whispered "I love you," into the darkness. A weight of anxiety lifted off of me when I heard Charles whisper the same words back to me. We haven't been apart since. On January 8th, 2019, Charles proposed. He had planned to surprise me on my birthday, but just couldn't wait any longer. He decided to pop the question on a day I came home early from work because I wasn't feeling well. I was really sick that evening and he decided to pop the question after a long bout of vomiting. Get yourself someone that still wants to marry you after watching you vomit for several minutes. That's love! Shortly after we got engaged we decided to start trying to build our family. In April we found out we were expecting! We welcomed Gracie into the world in December of 2019. Gabby wasn't sure about becoming a big sister at first, but she has since grown to embrace Gracie and her role as a big sister. We love our little family!