Our story began unexpectedly at a convention. New in town, he’d prayed for God to put someone infront of him—and I literally sat right there! He says my quiet acts of kindness caught his attention, and he was smitten on the spot. From that day on, our bond grew over shared outings with friends. We were completely aligned on life's most important things, including a mutual love for cats and good coffee. Our friendship blossomed so quickly that we eloped, and the rest is history!

One of our absolute favorite memories is a simple, perfect afternoon spent by the pond right next to the Parthenon. There’s something so special about finding a quiet, peaceful pocket of nature right in the heart of the city. Sitting by the water, watching the ducks, and just talking and goofing around for hours without checking our phones remains one of the sweetest, most grounded moments we’ve ever shared. It's a beautiful reminder that our favorite place to be is simply together.

We would split it three ways to balance our hearts and our goals. First, a portion would absolutely go toward donation—our hearts go out to so many who are struggling right now, and lifting others up is a core value for us. Next, because I recently completed the massive journey of earning my PhD, we would use part to finish paying of the dreaded student loan debt. Finally, since we eloped, we never actually had a proper honeymoon! We’d use the rest to finally take that dream trip.