We recommend formal fun clothing (AKA business casual), and Kathy recommends to wear flats and avoid heels because some of the games are located on grass. The address is 241 Settlers Way, Comfort TX 78013. If the GPS tells you "Settlers Way North," that will get you to the same place. The house is located in the Falling Water subdivision just off Highway 87, and you can get through the front gate with the code 6912. Masks are welcome but optional because our guests and staff are vaccinated, and all events will be taking place outside.

In a completely unexpected turn of events (that's how it always happens, right?), we first met at an academic conference in Arizona. Bryan was presenting a paper at the conference in Tucson, where Kathy was in school and helping to run the conference. We both remember seeing each other across the room for the first time, and we ended up walking around the U of Arizona campus and talking until early in the morning. After Bryan's presentation the next morning and with his carefully worded invitation to lunch, we went to get tacos and resolved to stay in touch.

With Kathy in Arizona and Bryan in NYC, we were able to steal a few weeks here and there on trips to see each other and to places like Washington DC, Boston, Portland OR, Portugal, and family trips to San Antonio and Puerto Vallarta. We soon tired of living in different places, and Kathy decided she was ready for the Big City Life. We packed all of her possessions into a minivan (and I mean PACKED) and began a 2800-mile trip across the USA to a lovely little apartment in Astoria, Queens. Kathy continued her studies and worked remotely for various organizations while Bryan taught cello and music history at NYU. We enjoyed Broadway shows, walks in the many parks around NYC, and the baked confections of Chips (huge cookies) and La Guli (Best. Cannolis. Ever.).

While celebrating Thanksgiving with Bryan's family, he received an intriguing call. One of his many job applications panned out, and they requested an interview. Over the next two weeks, New World School of the Arts put Bryan through numerous phone and video conversations, and we began to suspect an offer was in the works. As he finished administering a music history final at NYU, Bryan received the call. The offer was just above what we wanted, and without either of us ever having been to Miami, Bryan accepted the offer. Two weeks later, we loaded our possessions into a UHaul truck and drove from NYC to a new apartment in the heart of downtown Miami. Bryan is loving his job of mentoring a wonderful group of students through cello lessons, music theory, sight singing, chamber music, orchestra repertoire, and more (with an eye toward his application for tenure in a few years!), and Kathy is working in operations and virtual productions management for a nonprofit that focuses on music education.

When Kathy finished her dissertation at the end of last year, we both officially had the "Dr." title because we have each completed a PhD. We wished for a proper wedding, but the pandemic derailed those plans. So, while we were visiting Bryan's mother in Comfort, TX (the celebration location!), we went to the Fredericksburg courthouse and were married by a Justice of the Peace wearing an upside-down Spurs mask. The short ceremony took place outside next to a lovely fountain, and we celebrated with virtual toasts, tamales, and a tres leches cake.

After out apartment in downtown Miami flooded for a second time from the unit above, Kathy suggested we move up our timetable for looking at houses, and Bryan crunched some serious numbers. With the best support team we could imagine (shoutouts to our realtor Stepan and our lender and Bryan's family friends John Jr. and John Sr.), we have been able to buy our very first home. It is two stories with a view of a small manmade lake in the back, and the commute where we both work in downtown will be 25-45 minutes depending on traffic (that is, once we are not longer working from home!). Our cul-de-sac is calm with plenty of palm trees, and we can't wait to see if the mango tree in the back will bear fruit. We also added a member to our family last fall: Cherry the bunny. She freely roams our home because she is trained to use a litterbox, and she likes to lay underneath Kathy's desk or Bryan's cello chair. Although she eats a lot of hay, her favorite treats are banana and pear. Although we are already married, we want to celebrate with you with a little ceremony and carnival games. Please join us at Bryan's mother's house in the Texas Hill Country on Saturday, October 9. Can't wait to see you there!