Neither of us really believed in dating apps prior to spontaneously downloading "Hinge" and catching each other's eye. With much skepticism about meeting in person, we decided our first date would be perfect at a local brewery in Greenville, North Carolina. Worst case, if the other person was totally weird, we could leave fast after one beer; BUT to our surprise, we immediately hit it off with nonstop conversations about our crazy healthcare stories and our many, many common interests such as surfing, traveling, Jesus and our love of Chick-Fil-A (which we actually got after the brewery that night). A mere 2 days after our first date, Ethan moved to Sanford (2 hours away from Greenville) to begin his career as a PA. We didn't need much discussion over whether or not we thought we could make long distance work considering how fast we made a connection, so our chapter as a long distance relationship began! Months went by of growing closer to each other and making unforgettable memories with not only each other, but with our friends and family as well. We did anything from wake-surfing, to hiking, to axe throwing and much more! After a while though, the long distance was getting more difficult as we just wanted to spend as much quality time together as we could when we weren't working! That led to the discussion of moving together to a place that would not only better our relationship, but our careers too! After much researching and touring, we landed on the perfect house for us and our 3 pups in Shelby, NC! We both accepted jobs at the local hospital (as an ED nurse and a Hospitalist PA) and were very excited to be able to take lunch dates together during the long, hard hours we work! We are so fortunate to be in a location that we can continue our adventures by being super close to the mountains to snowboard or hike and also being close to the lake to wake-surf! We have made new friends that we have gotten so close to and have been able to grow tremendously in our careers thus far.
Ethan planned an amazing mountain trip in Beech Mountain for us the week before Christmas of 2023. We arrived on a Tuesday, did some shopping and then went snowboarding that night! Sydney did not have the best of luck getting down the mountain, but was determined to try again in the morning after the anger went away (haha). Ethan was very hesitant, knowing that he wanted to propose that next night and didn't want anybody to be in a bad mood, but ended up agreeing to go for a few hours (it went way better that time). After arriving back to the most gorgeous AirBNB, Ethan said to go into the bedroom, play some music and get all fancied up because we had dinner reservations to get to. After singing and dancing up the stairs to a favorite song playing on the TV, Sydney came to find both her family and Ethan's family upstairs! Ethan was standing out on the back deck, with the sun setting on the mountains in the background, white roses (Sydney's favorite) in his hand, and an important question to ask! With tears of excitement, we both knew that this was the start to another beautiful chapter in our sweet journey together.