In our freshman year of high school, Josh and I knew each other only in the way that you know everyone in your class when your school only has three hundred students. Josh likes to say that I was rude to him that year, but really he made me nervous because I thought he was pretty cute. By the middle of our sophomore year, I was pretty crazy for Josh, but he wasn't sold on the whole girlfriend thing. It took some persistence, but on April 9th, it was official. On our first date (which our parents had to drop us off for) we saw Oblivion, with Tom Cruise. (We give it a solid 3 out of 5 stars.)

In May of 2015, we both graduated from early college. The next fall, I went to Appalachian State University to start my degree in English Education, and Josh continued at the community college to study machining. We had been together for over two years, and there was no question that we would give long distance a try.

Just before Thanksgiving in 2017, we went hiking at Grandfather Mountain near Boone, NC. When we made it top, Josh got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. It was simple and absolutely perfect.

In my junior year at App State, I decided to study abroad in England. Josh had just finished his degree in machining and had decided to transfer to Western Carolina University in the spring. That January, Josh moved into an apartment in Cullowhee, and I moved almost 4,000 miles away to Keele, England. We went from long distance to extremely long distance. It was a challenge to have only FaceTime to bring us together for almost five months, but then in May, Josh flew to the UK so that we could go on an adventure together. The next two weeks were spent exploring Paris, London, and Wales together.

In the spring semester of 2019, Josh and I were finally able to move in together in Waynesville, NC, the halfway point between Josh's classes at Western and the school where I student taught in Asheville. We live in a little log cabin with our dog, Sam.

Josh is in his last semester at Western Carolina and will receive his bachelor's degree in engineering in May. By June, I will have finished my first full year of teaching high school English. Josh has already received an offer of full-time employment from his current company, and we are searching for a house of our own. We can't wait to become Mr. & Mrs. Simpson and see what the next chapter holds.