Once upon a time, there was a Blink-182 cover band. No, really. It was at one of their many boppin' concerts that Amanda and Sam reconnected. Amanda first saw Sam on-stage as a shirtless pirate in his high school production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. They had had a brief introduction in the Gilman School auditorium following a short film festival they were at to support a mutual friend, Ben Fisher. But that concert was the first time they talked and it was really the beginning of it all. Fast forward past many, many FaceTime calls, hangouts with Ben, and a lot of high school drama, they set out on the adventure of a long-distance college relationship. What fun! It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows but they found their way back to each other and by the time they studied abroad together in Florence their sophomore year of college, they knew this was it.

After four years of long distance, from New Orleans, to Virginia, to London, they were finally reunited. And things went shockingly well. So well, in fact, that they moved in together 6 weeks before having to quarantine together for 6+ months. Throughout all of it, they grew together as partners in life and in love and gave a whole lot of snuggles to Zoe, their one-eyed pup. When COVID forced them to cancel their return trip to Florence, Sam revealed that he had been planning on proposing there, in the piazza behind their prior apartment, over a bowl of pasta. Truly Amanda's ideal situation. Knowing that Sam had spent so much time and energy planning this and that it would be long before they would make it to Italy... she took matters into her own hands. So that's how Amanda became a one-time Dungeon Master for their Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The proposal was as nerdy as could be, Yoda assisted, and a custom twenty-side die was involved. Sam was shocked, to say the least. Amanda didn't get any words out before she started crying. Typical. Afterwards they looked at each other and said, "Now what?" So they ordered in some Indian food and splurged on extra celebratory garlic naan. A few months later, Sam wrote a few limericks, got out a solid video of the Disney firework show, designed a beautiful ring, and had his own proposal. Now they can't wait to celebrate with you too. Hopefully with some garlicky carbs and a whole lot of dancing.