Welcome to the Spooky + Geeky Wedding of our Dreams #TilDeathDoUsPart

Kyle and Claudia, at the time of this writing have been together for 5 and 1/2 years. by the time you are watching them walk down the aisle they will have been together for 6 years and have known each other for 9 1/2 years. Why are we talking all these numbers? Let's get to the nitty gritty. April 15th, 2013, The Carson Center: Paducah Improv Auditions; Kyle was...late. 45 minutes late to be exact. This immediately angered Claudia. (Which is hilarious to note, because Claudia is perpetually late and Kyle MUST be everywhere at least 15-30 minutes early...this keeps the relationship interesting) Anyway, she was unimpressed. From her point of view, she saw a cocky dude who felt like he could just walk in and, BOOM; audition whenever he wanted when the rest of them had been there doing the work. From Claudia's perspective Chuck Tate is the one to blame, and from Kyle's perspective, Chuck is the one to thank. Now on to the reason Kyle was late: Garrett Dykes (The Best Man) messaged Kyle to tell him about the Paducah Improv auditions, Kyle had expressed interest in PI before but had been unaware of auditions. As he and Garrett were discussing (actually, Garrett was convincing Kyle to go for it) Garrett causally dropped in the minor fact that auditions were...NOW. As in, happening now, in Paducah, Kyle at the time lived in Calvert City, YOU NEED TO LEAVE RIGHT NOW! So Kyle got in his car, drove as fast as he probably ever has for anything, to Paducah, and was met at the doors of the The Myre River Room of the Carson Center by Chuck Tate. Kyle pleaded his case, and Chuck with his big heart decided to let him in. Fast forward through second rounds of auditions, Kyle's there again, much to Claudia's disdain, and then to the first day of making the team. Kyle and Claudia, Claudia and Kyle, in the same room. Kyle, having seen Claudia previously through roller derby events thinking it's cool to be here with "the goth roller derby chick" and Claudia thinking she hates this weird geeky guy who was cocky and a jerk during auditions. It took awhile for them to warm to each other enough to go from improv colleagues to friends, and even longer from friends to, dating, and EVEN LONGER for Kyle to finally put a ring on it, but in the end, it's all worked out. Obviously. Kyle proposed to Claudia in St. Louis at the St. Louis Zoo in front of the hippos (her favorite animal) the day before Halloween. It was incredibly spooky, sweet, and thoughtful and in true Claudia fashion she, in front of many children and families yelled, "IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!" This kinda sums up their relationship: sweet, thoughtful, adventurous, hectic, loud, spooky, and full of colorful language. And they wouldn't have it any other way. #Washburning