Our story began on October 6th, 2019 at The Exchange bar in Lancaster, PA. We were introduced by mutual friends and spent the evening having far more to drink than we probably should have! Luckily, it was a night to "remember" and Tanner decided to follow up and ask Rachael on a date that following Tuesday- and the rest was history! We both grew up in the same area but our lives never crossed paths. That might be because Rachael went to Lancaster Catholic High School while Tanner went to Manheim Township. Or maybe it was because of the two-year age difference...who knows! After a few months of dating, Tanner decided to join the army and headed off to basic training. What started off as 11 weeks of not seeing each other quickly turned into 9 months thanks to COVID. Luckily we made it through and could see each other once again! But only for weekends at a time of course since Tanner was stationed in Fayetteville NC, while Rachael worked at LGH. After about a year of 6-hour drives to NC and PA, Rachael quit her job and started travel nursing in Raleigh, NC so we could be together. After about 6 months, Tanner got the news that he was deploying to Africa for 6 months. Rachael loved her new job so she stayed in NC and awaited his return to the states! Tanner returned in December of 2023, and remained in NC for the rest of his contract in the military. During that time we lived in Raleigh and bought a dog- our Wally! Tanner's contract in the military ended in August and we both moved back to Lancaster where Rachael went back to LGH and Tanner started his job/school search. We then got engaged Labor Day weekend (!!) in the sweetest most thoughtful way with all of our family members present. In November, Tanner was offered a job opportunity he could not turn down that landed him in the DMV area. Therefore, we recently relocated to Alexandria, VA where Rachael works as a cardiac surgery ICU travel nurse and Tanner works as an intelligence analyst! Our life has always been a little chaotic but we wouldn’t want it any other way! Now we are counting down the days to be husband and wife and we cant wait to celebrate with all of our loved ones so soon!