The story of us

For almost thirty years of our lives, we lived over 300 miles apart.

Neither one of us expected to get married in our early thirties, we thought it would've happened a lot sooner. Even though the timeline was a little different than we both planned for ourselves; everything happens according to God's timing. I'm thankful Stephen and I met when we did. I've been able to grow, mature, and learn a lot from past relationships.

I grew up and lived in Eastern North Carolina closer to the coast, and graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in Art Education. Go Pirates! After graduating I worked as a real estate agent in my hometown. Stephen grew up in Gaston county, and worked in the area as a paramedic after serving in the military for four years. He took classes online at East Carolina, and decided to complete his last year in person.

Stephen and I actually met through a dating app, Bumble. When we met for our first dinner date, (December 6, 2019), I know this may sound lame, but the moment I met Stephen, I knew he would be the man I would marry. (Stephen knew pretty early-on also.) Even though we met online, it felt like we had known each other for years.

Initially I wanted to meet someone in a more "traditional" way, but it is a little harder meeting people after college. For all who have tried know, that dating apps can definitely be a challenge. Meeting someone and potentially growing a relationship with someone makes the challenge totally worth it. For me, I had to get past the idea of thinking that somehow our "how we met story" was less significant because Stephen isn't my high school sweetheart, or because we didn't start off as friends first. Meeting someone and finding love is pretty remarkable to begin with because it doesn't come easy and definitely doesn't happen everyday. (Especially if you're hoping to connect with someone who shares the same convictions and beliefs as you).

The majority of our dating relationship was during Covid and with 300+ miles of distance. After Stephen graduated from ECU he moved back to his hometown and started the job search. Thankfully there's Skype and we made it a priority to spend time together and take turns traveling. Establishing good communication from the beginning made things work so much smoothly.

Manteo, NC Aquarium (our fourth date)

Stephen proposed on Loving Day, June 12, 2021 on a pier near the waterfront, and we got married on January 9, 2022. We just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary, woo hoo!! I get asked pretty often, "how's married life?", and my response is always the same. Married life is fun! Spending time together is fun, and exciting. For our anniversary, we celebrated with a cruise to the Bahamas, and we decided to drive to Palm Beach, FL instead of flying. Our 10-hour road trip was such an awesome time, reminiscing our wedding day, eating at a popular grilled cheese restaurant, cruising to another country together, and relaxing on the beach. My prayer is that Stephen and I will always have a relationship where we're constantly growing and learning together, and enjoying each others company.

Thankful for our life together and looking forward for many more years to come!