We're getting married!

It all started in 2009 when Patrick and Anya were juniors in high school. They took the same biology class and sat in the back of the room at the same lab table. The fall semester was comprised of nonstop flirting, which mostly took the form of drawing all over each other’s notes. They routinely got in trouble for talking and laughing during class (common for Patrick, very uncommon for Anya), while Karinne would roll her eyes from the other side of the room. In December, Patrick asked Anya on their first date, which was the winter dance. Upon seeing them together at the dance, one of their classmates famously predicted, “That relationship won’t last a week.” They ended up dating for the rest of high school and into college. Fast forward many years later to 2017. After a long hiatus, Anya and Patrick realized they couldn’t stop thinking about each other. After some long distance dating (Atlanta to Jacksonville) and a lengthy deployment, Patrick convinced Anya to move to Jacksonville from Atlanta. Shortly after Anya moved to Jacksonville, Patrick’s squadron was getting ready to leave for yet another long deployment. Knowing he needed to lock Anya down, he planned a proposal shortly before getting underway. One evening in August of 2019, he took her out on the boat on the Saint John’s River in between rainstorms and proposed. And as it turns out, their wedding on December 4th will be the 12th anniversary of their first date.