Do you want the short version or the long version? The short version is that we met in Junior Year of high school. We had a couple classes together that year, and being in the same school grade for the past 5 years, we had a general idea of who the other person was. One day, our U.S History teacher assigned our class an essay, and I had plans to go work on it at Panera with someone else in the class. That person called me and asked if they could bring Chris along since he would be their ride, and I said, “Sure, why not? Chris is smart. He’ll probably do most of the essay for us!” … So of course, Chris joined us at Panera, and that night we got to talking once the essay was done, exchanged Snapchats (which was the cool thing to do in 2016), and then went our separate ways. I had no expectations that Chris would actually reach out to me first and start talking to me on a daily basis, but I’m so thankful that he decided to snapchat me that very night. From Snapchat, to exchanging phone numbers, to our Spanish teacher magically seating us next to each other 2 weeks later… and now here we are planning our wedding almost a decade later! I’ll save you the details of the long version of how we met, but to summarize: Our parents went to Georgia Southern together, my dad and Chris’s dad were in the same fraternity, my mom and his mom got pregnant with us at the same time… fast forward to the 6th grade, the first year Chris and I were attending the same school, we somehow found each other and had the best 2 week long middle school relationship ever. There are some very embarrassing diary entries about Chris somewhere in my middle school diary that will never see the light of day, and some of my favorite photos to exist are of me in Chris’s middle school football jersey, that he eventually had to take back from me of course. And when we broke up in middle school, we somehow stayed friends for that year, but then never really spoke again until Junior Year of high school. So… you could say our invisible string is a long and messy one! But it’s my favorite.

Junior and Senior year were the best years of high school for me, mostly because of Chris. Ironically, in Junior Year I had applied to be a manager for the high school lacrosse team, way before I knew I would meet Chris or that he even played lacrosse. I guess that’s just another part of our invisible string! But by the time lacrosse season came around, Chris and I were dating and it was so fun getting to be one of the managers for the team and get to watch Chris play from the sidelines. Senior year I managed the lacrosse team again, but now Chris was also taking a step into my world as he joined the Brookwood Dance Department by taking the Theater Dance class, where boys and girls partnered up for different dance styles like swing dancing, salsa, tango, and many more. This was easily the best class I had taken in all of high school because Chris convinced all his friends to join the class, and I got to be with a lot of my girl friends from the dance department, which was a big part of my life. To this day, Chris and I still find ourselves doing the choreography to some of these dances whenever we hear the music being played. I look back on our high school years together with so much nostalgia. The beginning of any relationship is always so fun - the romance, the flirting, and the getting to know each other. Those high school years will always be so special and so precious to me. I am so thankful to our U.S History teacher for assigning us that essay, and for our mutual friend deciding to bring Chris to Panera that one random day.

College was the first time in our relationship that Chris and I would no longer be living about 7 minutes from each other, and it sucked! There was a lot of adjustment that came with realizing how we had to communicate when we weren’t seeing each other's face every single day, as well as doing our best to see each other on weekends. In our first year of college, our schools had the same exact spring breaks, which was the best! We spent the whole week together at Disney, and it was by far one of my favorite trips we’ve ever taken. When I transferred from Oglethorpe to Georgia Tech, our spring breaks never lined up again, but as the college years went on we fell into a really easy groove of visiting each other on weekends. Then, Covid hit. It was actually a blessing in disguise in a way. With classes being online we were able to attend school from home, and we were able to spend more time together. I look back on our college years together fondly. Going to events for my sorority, meeting Chris’s college friends who turned into life long friends (who are now a part of our wedding party!), and of course getting to go to multiple Georgia vs. Georgia Tech football games together and starting a long standing tradition of celebrating hate week together (Georgia Tech will win one of these years, mark my words!). The years of college helped our relationship grow stronger than it ever had been!

Fast forward a couple years after graduation from our colleges, Chris and I now live together in our home in Brookhaven, and it’s been the best. Even more than that, we get to spend our days doing our dream jobs, which might be unconventional to most, but it’s our passion and we’re so grateful that we get to wake up every day and do what we love. We are so thankful to our incredible parents who were so supportive in our journey of pursuing our passion, allowing us the time to figure things out after college and thus letting us live the life we live now! Not only do we get to live every day with each other, but in August of 2024 we adopted a cat together! Chris got to name him, so of course he’s named Indy after Indiana Jones. It’s been so special getting to navigate living together with our new little furry friend, and I personally have loved getting to see Chris own his first pet in his entire life! Chris and I are so excited to continue this next phase in our lives as a married couple, and we’re so grateful to be surrounded by such incredible family and friends throughout this entire phase in life.