Our story begins on January 14th, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. Corinne, a young, aspiring graduate student working at the nearby university sits across from Zack, a less-young recent graduate who had been working in the area for a couple years. By a simple twist of fate, the two strangers had been invited to a mutual friend's birthday dinner. After some small talk and several servings of chicken parmigiana, their paths would not cross again until the Superbowl, an event which neither of them were greatly fond of. This second meeting, however, spurred on a series of fortunate events.

Over the next several months, Zack and Corinne would go on many adventures and share in many new experiences. Even in their day-to-day lives, they quickly formed a bond that made the mundane tasks of young-adulthood fun again. From road trips to grocery lists, our two protagonists had evolved into quite the couple. These events culminated in the first of what would be many trips abroad (outside of Florida) when the two lovebirds flew out west to Colorado for the first time. After this trip, it was clear that the two shared a vision of the future together.

Fast-forward to the fall of 2018. Corinne receives the news of her life: she has been accepted to graduate school in Virginia. Our couple put down roots in western Virginia, acquired two pet animals disguised as cats, and began a new phase of their lives together. Life as a graduate student was not always easy, nor was the life of an introvert introduced to a new city without any friends. But over time, life in Virginia began to feel normal. The adventures also continued, and after hiking through the lush forests of Oregon and the mighty redwoods in California, it was evident that this once budding relationship had grown into something lasting.

On a cool June morning, at the top of a mountain in Switzerland, Zack proposed to Corinne that they should get married. Her response, “yes!”, not only made him happy that he would be marrying his adventure partner but also that he would no longer have to wander around a foreign country hiding an expensive diamond in his luggage. After quite a long engagement, and quite a long global pandemic, our couple will finally be getting married this May in Shenandoah Virginia.