It begins with a mutual friend insisting we get together. The problem was I, Julia, lived in upstate NY, in the Catskills, and he, Corey, lived in Central NJ, I did not have high hopes of anything to come of this. We finally got connected and had a date set. For our first date he made the two and a half hour trip to me and we went on a hike to the famous Kaaterskill waterfalls in the rain followed by dinner in Woodstock. We both agree it was the best date each of us ever had.

We agree our favorite memory is when we acquired a sail boat and quickly had to move it 80 miles down the Hudson River. We were dating about 8 months when we decided we can make a boat work for us if he maintains it and I sail it. We had a tight dead line to transport the boat in the fall because marinas were getting ready to close for the winter. After weeks of prep and lots of nerves we boarded our boat for an overnight adventure and successfully made it. Afterwards, renaming it Sunshine.

We just bought a house, and it needs some work. What we can’t do ourselves we have contractors coming in the fall to do. In addition to that, we are also preparing for our wedding in December of this year! So many happy, exciting things to look forward to and $20,000 would give us the relief that would allow us to enjoy these big moments even more.