We met for our first date in Decatur Square (Georgia), chatting over sandwiches and slushies at Victory Sandwiches! We ended the night at Dark Horse for live karaoke (though we were both too nervous to go on stage and sing). The second date was planned soon after :)

The following five years (2016-2020), we were lucky to have many adventures together in various locations. In 2017, Chloe moved to Tallahassee, FL to work at St. Marks Wildlife Refuge. Later that year, she moved to Blacksburg, VA to pursue a Ph.D. in Biology at Virginia Tech. Travis worked on his Ph.D. in Materials Science at Georgia Tech, splitting his time 2:1 between Atlanta, GA and Los Alamos, NM. In 2020 Travis graduated and began his dream job in Livermore, CA as a R&D scientist. Every new location offered new sites to see and places to explore together. Regardless of the distance, we'd travel however far was necessary to spend almost every weekend together.

In Summer 2019, Travis told his parents that he was going to marry Chloe and asked his dad for help getting a custom ring. Travis began recording short (1-5 second) video clips during our hikes, picnics, and general adventures -- all under the guise that videos captured the moment better than still photos. These recordings gradually grew in length and frequency until it wouldn't be odd to record a minute or so at a time. Travis's goal was always to be able to candidly record the entire proposal. A collection of these videos, leading up to and following the proposal, can be seen in our proposal video (link below). Following Travis's graduation (Fall 2020), we loaded up his truck and drove across the country, stopping at Santa Fe, the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Joshua Tree, and other places along the way. The final day of our road trip we drove up the 1 freeway from San Diego to Monterrey, with the goal being to make it to Big Sur by sunset. Chloe wanted to make a few stops along the way (Los Angeles to visit her brother and sister-in-law, a state park with some elephant seals, overlooks, and other beaches), totally oblivious to Travis's plan. Just a few minutes before sunset, we pulled off at Pfeiffer Beach State Park and the rest is history! Follow our journey and watch our proposal video here: https://youtu.be/v2MD4XmYp74