(Shanes side) SO. My sister and I had been invited to a weekend trip to Poconos. We were a bit nervous because we had only physically met two of the 8-10 people planned to be there. Add that on top of the fact that we had a 2+ hour drive in my beat-up Jeep. In the middle of the biggest snowstorm of the year. Eventually, we made it safely and were greeted by an almost empty house. With the exception of our now-close friend Randi Mcrae, the house was silent. She greeted us very kindly, and Kaileigh and I got to unpack our things while everyone came to the house. We were bringing the last of our things inside, and that's when I saw Kyra for the first time. I gotta be honest here and say that my first thought when seeing her was, "Wow, she's shorter than Kaileigh!" Fast forward to the end of the trip, and wouldn't you know, we already had a few inside jokes, and another trip lined up with the same group later that year! Another fast-forward to the OBX trip. This trip was setting up to be a good one, with more friends, a bigger house, and the beach in our backyard. By the end of this trip, we had grown closer as friends and had a blast hanging out with everyone, but we also learned that we worked amazingly as a team. Throughout the week, we both cooked breakfast and dinner for our friends. A couple of months and a few big life changes later, we found ourselves in big transition periods in our lives. We started getting to know each other in January of 2023, and for 6 months, we talked until, and I quote, "She couldn't take it anymore and needed answers." Then, on the sunny evening of June 17th, Kyra and I confessed our feelings to each other. And after that... yall know the rest!