Lauren's POV: It all started with getting frustrated by a guy weighing lemurs. Skyler and I met at my first zookeeping job out of college. Ran encounters together, and started chatting in the breakroom. We bonded over our shared distaste for kinkajous. One day he asked me what my New Years plans were. I told him I was staying home with my elderly/anxious doggo. He offered to come over and keep me company- to which I insisted it wouldn't be a particularly interesting evening and encouraged him to go to the New Years Eve work party instead. Long story short he wound up at my door on new years eve with a bottle of Tequila in hand, determined to liven up my New Years plans- and the rest is history. Skyler's POV: A story of a boy overstaying his welcome. I took my first job after graduating college zookeeping in Austin, where I met a feisty lady who didn't appreciate my inability to have 8 lemur-catching arms. As the clearly charming and not awkward (and handsome) man that I am, I started to convince Lauren that I wasn't so bad after all. We began to talk more while cutting animal diets and hanging out away from work. On New Years Eve, Lauren was staying home alone with Scout, her senior dog, instead of going to our coworker party. I offered to keep her company and instantly fell in love... with Scout.

Lets just say, the aquarium didn't work out- but WE DID! We started working together at a different zoo in Austin shortly after. We moved in together, and welcomed a spunky new addition to our family, Mushu (AKA The Moosh Lady AKA Mammothan James Jr.) with open arms! We took the opportunity to travel any chance we could: we partied watching our favorite singer at Red Rocks in Colorado, we did scuba in Aruba, we rode ATV's in Tahiti, and we began our forever in Fiji.

Texas was becoming old news and we were ready to set roots in a new city. We were interested in many different places: Tampa, Colorado Springs, and North Carolina. When we visited North Carolina for the first time, the search was over. A place filled with towering pines, eclectic breweries, sandy beaches. and beautiful mountains. So we pulled the trigger, quit our jobs and booked the first flight out of Austin to look for a place to live. We currently live in Durham, NC with our two chow chows. Lauren still works with lemurs at Duke Lemur Center- and Skyler is no longer allowed to work with lemurs.... just kidding- he works for the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. As wildlife/nature enthusiasts, we have found our true home in North Carolina.