Austin and Kristina both grew up in the Cleveland, Ohio area—though it would take a move across the country for their paths to finally cross. In 2000, Austin joined the military. His career took him all over, but eventually led him to Las Vegas, where he found himself returning again and again. Vegas started to feel like home, and he eventually put down roots and bought a house. In 2015, Kristina had reached her limit with Midwest winters. Ready for something new (and warmer), she packed up her car and drove to Las Vegas on a whim, not knowing exactly what she was heading toward—just knowing it was time for a change. Once settled, Kristina found comfort in familiar places: the Ohio State Backers bar and the Browns Backers bar—little slices of home in the desert. One Saturday night, Austin wandered into the Ohio State bar with friends. Within minutes, the OSU Backers organizer asked Austin and Kristina to pose for a photo… despite the fact that they had known each other for all of five minutes. Yes—the awkward photo below. The night went on, and Austin was convinced they were hitting it off. Kristina mentioned she’d be heading to the Browns bar the next morning and invited Austin to join. Austin went home excited, already looking forward to seeing her again. The next day, Austin walked into the bar… only to find Kristina sitting with a date. Confused? Absolutely. Discouraged? Maybe for a second. But sometimes the best stories don’t start perfectly—they just start honestly. And somehow, between Cleveland roots, Vegas detours, and one very awkward first photo, everything lined up exactly the way it was supposed to. After that day at the bar, Austin and Kristina started seeing each other more and more on the weekends. What began as chance run-ins turned into watching Ohio State games, Browns games, and eventually meeting up for then-Indians games. Somewhere along the way, they exchanged Snapchats, and the conversations officially began. That worked… for a while. By Easter 2017, Kristina had had enough of conversations disappearing into the Snapchat world and finally gave Austin her phone number. From there, things moved quickly. Kristina somehow found her way onto all of Austin’s boat trips, tagged along when he bought his first beater off-road Jeep Cherokee, and that’s when the road trips truly began. At the time, Austin and Kristina weren’t living together yet—but then Austin got Brutus. And when Austin had to work 48-hour shifts, guess who insisted on watching Brutus? That pretty much sealed it. Not long after, Kristina officially moved in in 2019—with her cat in tow—and from there, the rest is history. A lot has happened over the past nine years: getting a 2nd Dog, collecting and selling cars, off-roading, camping, boating, road trips, traveling, Brutus and Muni having puppies, and even building a wine cellar. 5 countries, 18 states, 3 Jeeps, 2 BMWs, 1 Lincoln, 2 trucks, 1 Excursion, 2 bikes, 2 boats, 3 Broncos, 1 Camaro, 2 junk cars, and 2 RVs later… Kristina and Austin can’t wait to celebrate their journey with you on September 5th.