Justin and I met while completing a Master’s of Professional Science at the University of Miami starting Fall 2015. We were two of the three students in our specific track of the MPS program and so naturally became close friends quickly. Shout out to Nicole and our self-proclaimed SciSquad! We spent long hours all together completing assignments, creating painfully homemade nature documentaries, sharing movie nights and beers at WetLab. We canoed down the Withlacoochee River in North Florida, camped under the stars in Eleuthera, waded through the swamp in Big Cypress, and shared a general love of exploration. We were so close we witnessed and supported each other’s honest personal truths, supporting one another, picking ourselves up when we fell, and learning from each other. After we finished the MPS program I got a job in Miami and Justin bought a house and moved home to North Carolina, where he lived for maybe three weeks. Later that summer Justin came back to Miami for me. This was the turning point in our friendship, for hearing Justin pour his heart out, that he missed me when I wasn’t around, solidified what I already suspected. Nothing after that was surprising, but fully welcomed.

While on Christmas vacation with family, Justin asked me to spend the rest of our lives together while underneath a low hanging hammock in Grayton Beach State Park. We are very excited to move forward and build our lives together! We definitely want a big wedding with all our family and friends, together in our old neighborhood, Coconut Grove. Remember when we wrote “Pandemic Pending” on the original Save the Dates for our December 2020 wedding? We were half joking at the time. After planning, stalling, scrapping the plan, and re-planning, we had a small wedding ceremony in December 2020 and saved the big celebration with everyone for 2022! Everyone has had over a year to work on their dance moves so you better believe our expectations are high!