We’re getting married!

HOW WE MET AT THE BEACH (Sort of!): *cough cough* Okay, fine - I’ll admit it! Here’s the full story, even if I wasn’t exactly rushing to share it at first: In 2020, in the midst of covid, I decided to escape to Florida for a solo beach getaway at my Aunt Sharon’s. I *might* have been looking for any reason to soak up the sun. To add a little adventure to my trip, I downloaded Bumble Friends (don’t laugh), but that didn’t quite pan out. So, I switched to Bumble Dating, and voilà - I matched with Andrew. For anyone unfamiliar, Bumble requires the girl to message first. So I kicked things off with a question: “What movie best describes your life?” One of his answers was American Sniper - and the other one… well, that’s on a need-to-know basis. (If you know, you’re probably laughing right now!) Our first official date was, of course, at the beach. We met at Okaloosa Island near Fort Walton Beach, and when he finally arrived, I suddenly felt my heart race (yes, he was even better-looking in person). Andrew forgot to bring a towel, so we ended up sharing mine, and we talked for hours. Later, we grabbed dinner at Rockin’ Tacos on the boardwalk. When he walked me to my car that night after dinner, I drove home with a serious case of butterflies. After that, we spent every moment we could together for the rest of my trip, much to my mom’s and Aunt Sharon’s worry (don’t worry, he won them over too!). And can we talk about the uniform? Seeing him in his military gear made my heart skip a beat! When I returned to Ohio, we never lost touch. Just a few weeks later, he asked me to be his girlfriend and by New Year’s Eve, we were saying “I love you.” Eventually, I moved to Florida to finish up my junior year of college, and we spent nearly every day together. Even early on, we both knew this was forever. For a girl who thought she’d never find her soulmate, I’m beyond grateful I was wrong. <3