Brett and I met in the early fall of 2019 in Charlottesville, VA while we were both students at the University of Virginia. Only a few years late, as we had actually both attended Mountain Vista Governor’s School (MVGS) in high school, just at different campuses. At UVA, we had many mutual friends and were often at the same football tailgates and birthday parties, or at the Virginian where I was a waitress and Brett frequented with his friends. One afternoon at the Virginian, Brett noticed my MVGS backpack and sparked up a conversation. We realized that we had not only been on multiple MVGS field trips together, but we had even taken a class picture together back in 2014! After a few more slightly flirty encounters, Brett asked to take me on a proper date and… I said no. After a few days, I realized I had made a mistake and decided to give him a chance. Brett decided to take me to Pro Re Nata Brewery just outside of Charlottesville in Crozet, VA. They were having a live band and Brett loved the drive out to Crozet with beautiful views of the mountains. He didn’t realize until after we had arrived that I wasn’t 21 yet! So we enjoyed some live music and he convinced me to try the crispy brussels sprouts which I now love. We talked all night and had an amazing time, and that was the beginning of many years of laughter and love to come.

After a few more dates, Brett quickly learned that I rarely left UVA’s Grounds or “The Corner”. He decided that needed to change and loved introducing me to all of his favorite spots around Charlottesville. From his favorite restaurant, The Local, near downtown Charlottesville to King Family Vineyards in Crozet, Brett loved taking me to new places and pushing me out of my comfort zone. After many breakfast dates, football games, and sorority date functions, we knew we wanted to make things official. We were together officially for about 3 months before COVID hit and the world shut down. Both on separate spring break trips with friends before being forced to leave Charlottesville, we were very grateful that the distance between Winchester and Warrenton was relatively short. Especially after Brett broke his foot (for the 3rd time!) during spring break, and I had to do the majority of the driving to go see him! Even though we missed Charlottesville and our friends, we were able to spend a lot of great time with our families and exploring our hometowns, without which it may have been years until I was able to try Spitony's pizza (Brett’s favorite). Things became a bit stressful when Brett graduated in May and moved to Maryland for his first job as an engineer for the Navy, while I returned to Charlottesville for my 4th year at UVA. The trips were long and I developed an appreciation for podcasts, but we saw each other as often as we could. When I graduated that December, I moved to Richmond which luckily cut the distance down to just about 2 hours. Things became only slightly more complicated when I adopted a puppy in January. Luckily, Artemis soon became accustomed to long car rides and was always so excited to see Brett when he would visit us! In late 2022, Brett decided to take a new job in Atlanta, GA. Somewhere that had a few more job opportunities for me than in rural Maryland! Our drives went from 2 hours to 8 hours, so we saw each other a bit more sparingly. We frequently FaceTimed and talked on the phone, but the distance was difficult. Thankfully, in July 2023, I was able to move down to Georgia. For the first time since March 2020, we lived in the same state and less than 30 minutes apart! We finally were able to properly date again and our love for each other grew each day. We discovered new favorite spots together, decided to become members of a church together, and inched closer to our fourth anniversary. Our move to Georgia was challenging with both of our families back in Virginia, but our relationship has only grown as we've navigated a lot of changes and firsts.

November 25th, 2023; a beautiful sunny and only slightly freezing cold fall day in central Virginia. After a lovely Thanksgiving with our families, Brett and I decided to take a day trip to visit Charlottesville and attend the UVA vs. VT football game. We arrived at King Family Vineyards (one of our favorites) where we were supposed to meet his parents. Brett let me pick out a bottle of wine for us (that should've tipped me off) to enjoy while we waited. I picked a bottle of Small Batch Petit Verdot, a 2019 vintage, which just so happened to be the same year we started dating. It was absolutely freezing, and there was a ban on open fires in Virginia due to some wildfires! So we sat next to an unlit fire pit with a glass of wine and some charcuterie and a blanket spread across our chairs. Brett suggested we take a walk around the property to warm up a bit. We wandered past the horse stables and the polo field to an open spot in the field with a beautiful view of the mountains. Brett stopped us and told me there was something he had been waiting to ask me as he dropped to one knee. Of course I said yes, don't let him convince you that I said otherwise, and the rest has been an exciting blur of celebrating! We are so excited to celebrate with you and start the next beautiful chapter of our story, together at last!