We're getting Married!

Caroline and Austin are very much a twenty-first century love story. Austin just moved to Kentucky in August of 2015 to start graduate school in History at the University of Kentucky, and Caroline was a history major still attending Transylvania University a few miles down the road. Caroline loves to tell the story that her roommate convinced her to create a Tinder account one night after Thanksgiving break, and Austin just happened to match with her that night. But while the two officially met on Tinder, Caroline was not yet convinced by Austin’s attempts to ask her out on a date and meet face-to-face. Still, the two remained in conversation over the next few weeks, until one night—after she had just turned in a final exam paper—Caroline decided to ask Austin out on a “non-date” to Sonic for some late night ice cream. What started as an end-of-finals celebration with ice cream turned into hours of conversation. Austin now knows that he fell in love by the end of that night. The two decided to officially start dating in early January of 2016 after a dinner date of Italian food—which remains a favorite food choice for the couple. What followed were over three years of road trips, dinner dates, dance parties, and an occasional outburst of the couple’s continuing rivalry between Auburn and Kentucky athletics. Austin’s interests have grown to include horror movies and all things the Bachelor, while Caroline—as difficult as she may want to admit—is far more invested in Marvel superheroes than even Austin could have imagined! In 2017, the two adopted their dog, Ruthie, and weekends were never the same since. In between Austin’s progress through his PhD program and Caroline’s course work in Law school the two still enjoy nights out seeing movies, a good pasta, and even try to make the occasional trip back to “their” Sonic for ice cream here and there.

Since that first moment the two saw each other when Austin picked Caroline up in her apartment parking lot, the couple have pushed each other towards success and accomplishments, and they cannot imagine being happier. On the three year anniversary of their first “official” date, Austin returned to that original parking lot spot and asked Caroline to marry him. Along with the ring, Austin made sure to gift a homemade scrapbook that included items from every single date and major event we have experienced together—including the November 2015 receipt from our first night at Sonic. Austin likes to say that he tries to avoid clichés about “loving someone from the moment they met,” but in this case, he would like to think he has proof to know that it has been pretty darn close.