A sunny day at Heinz Field and a Pitt victory. A group of guys from Tower A met up with a bunch of girls from Holland at halftime and decided to head to the Waterfront later that night for a movie. We randomly sat next to each other and immediately struck up a conversation. We continued to talk the entire bus ride back to campus, and continued to be close friends the remainder of the year. #HailToPitt

After becoming close friends our freshman year at Pitt, we decided to take our relationship to the next level during our sophomore year. After graduation, we decided to move in together and adopt our cat Darwin. A few years later we stumbled across an abandoned kitten downtown, took him to the Animal Rescue League, and were able to adopt him in October 2014, shortly after Amanda started her Masters at Duquesne University. While Amanda was finishing school in Pittsburgh, Gary moved back home outside of Philadelphia for a job offer. Those two years were hard, filled with late night drives across the Pennsylvania Turnpike and way too many energy drinks, but we were determined to be on the same side of the state once Amanda graduated in 2016. In 2021, our adventure took a turn we didn't expect - moving to New York City....in the middle of a global pandemic.

If you know anything about us, you know that we never turn down a trip back to Pittsburgh. On our first trip back since 2019, we enjoyed a weekend full of our favorite eats, drinks, and Pirates baseball (they won too!). Staying in Oakland, we made sure to explore some of our favorite college spots, including a morning at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, a short walk from campus. In the outdoor gardens, with the Cathedral of Learning and Pitt's campus in the background, Gary asked, and Amanda said yes.