Tara and Austin met in September 2016 in Newport, Rhode Island at the Navy's Officer Development School. Neither went to Officer Development School thinking of meeting their "soulmate," it was actually the opposite. Tara was looking to blaze her own trail and Austin swore he would never date another lawyer.  At ODS, there are separate companies that were organized in alphabetical order, which is how the two even met. While in "training country," you have limited options on what to do in your off time.  Although each had noticed the other, they did not get to know each other until Austin overheard Tara and another group mention going to the gym. On the walk over to the gym, Tara and Austin hit it off and a friendship began. The next five weeks were filled with trips to the gym, watching football on the weekends, and outrageous breakfast trips when they could finally go outside the gate.  After ODS, Tara and Austin kept in touch and can pretend it was only because Austin stored Tara's uniforms for her. In the few days between ODS and Naval Justice School, it was made clear that they were interested in each other.  When they arrived back in Newport, they started dating. During NJS, Austin invited Tara to Annapolis, Maryland to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Little did the other know that this was a HUGE deal for each of them, Austin never asked a girl to come for a holiday and Tara never went somewhere else for holidays.  After a little encouragement from her mom and sister, Tara gladly accepted.  The rest was history! After NJS, Tara moved to Jacksonville, FL and Austin to Norfolk, VA, but despite the miles between them, being together was easy.