My dear friend and former volleyball teammate from Minnesota, Izzy Gates, was in Grant's company at West Point. She raved endlessly about this guy, how much he reminded her of me, and for months she kept insisting she knew we were meant to be together. Finally, I decided to go out to West Point to see the school and experience the school in all its glory. The weekend of my visit, I attended the 500th night ball (500 nights until graduation) as Izzy's date, and I met Grant for a total of 4 hours. Needless to say, we clicked immediately and the next time I saw him he picked me up at the Boston-Logan airport and we drove to Duxbury, Massachusetts to spend the weekend with his lovely parents, Pat and Mary! So yes - all credit to you, Iz!

We had just enjoyed a beautiful week long visit from Grant's parents and his second-oldest brother, Aaron. We spent the week eating BBQ, swimming at the lake, and getting settled into our home. Grant was getting ready for his mid-June departure to Korea for for his 9-month deployment. We spent this perfect Saturday tubing down the local creek with Ziggy (our only pup at the time), and trying to enjoy a bonfire in the new pit we built despite the sweltering heat. We were swinging in our hammock listening to Bon Iver's album "Emma," when Grant reflected on the wonderful week and year and a half we'd spent together, and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him! We celebrated by seeing the Disney live-action Aladdin, in true Kramer fashion :)

Long distance 1/13/18 - 5/25/18 (University of MN, MPLS <--> West Point, NY) We took turns visiting each other throughout that spring, both graduating in May. Grant spent the summer home in Duxbury before heading down in July to Fort Sill in Lawton, OK for his BOLC Officer Course. That August I finished working at the Student Organic Farm before I moved down to join him. January 2019, we moved to Fort Hood in Killeen, TX with our new pup at the time, Ziggy. Our large-sized crew lived cozily in our 400 square foot apartment, but it was the first home of our own! In April, we became homeowners and moved by the lake in Belton. I attained my science teaching certification and was hired to work at Belton High while Grant was across the world at Camp Casey in South Korea. Three bikes (kinda), two cars, two kayaks, 1 boat (Betty), three doggos, and one chicken-cat later, here we are! It's been one heck of an adventure and we're so excited to see where our next steps take us. Grant is stationed at Fort Hood until summer 2023 - then we'll start our next chapter. We are so grateful for the incredible love and support from our friends and family and we cannot wait to celebrate with you all!