They say love finds you when you least expect it… and in our case, it showed up somewhere between a tailgate cooler and a NASCAR infield. Christen wasn’t even sure she wanted to go to the race, and Andrew was, well… let's just say he was in recovery mode from the night before. Dressed in outfits that would make our mothers cringe, we crossed paths in what can only be described as an extremely unexpected setting to meet your future spouse.

Andrew had heard about Christen’s stubborn streak, so to lock in a first date, he took a bold approach - stealing her phone and putting his number in it himself. It worked.

For our first date, Andrew made reservations at a restaurant where we ended up being the only guests. Reservations definitely weren’t necessary… but Christen appreciated the effort. Despite a few early roadblocks (mainly Christen pretending she didn’t like Andrew as much as she did), we kept discovering overlaps in our lives - those “almosts” and “what ifs” that made us believe this was something more than coincidence.

What was to be a simple weekend ski trip to Snowshoe, WV turned out to be anything but. Christen thought they were just sneaking away for some mountain air and mediocre skiing. Meanwhile, Andrew was quietly plotting a much bigger moment.

Andrew quickly learned that life doesn’t always go according to plan and the proposal weekend was filled with a little more chaos than calm. A smashed ring finger (yes, that finger), a ski mountain that seemed to have everything but snow, and a wipeout on the slopes all just hours before the big moment. To top it off, for the first and only time in her life, Christen was early for the dinner reservation, which unintentionally threw off Andrew’s timing even more.

He had rehearsed what he wanted to say, but when the moment came, all the lines vanished and Christen continuously interrupting with questions like, “Wait, what are you doing?!” didn’t make remembering his speech any easier. Still, he managed to get the words out (more or less), and she said yes!

Despite the ski conditions being awful and Andrew having to abandon his snowy-mountain proposal idea, something magical happened. As soon as we got back to our hotel room, huge snowflakes started to fall outside. We toasted to our future together with champagne, surrounded by the quiet stillness of that perfect moment.

Over the past few years, we’ve grown together through every season of life; personally, professionally, and geographically. From saying goodbye to Charlotte and settling into our new home in Winston-Salem, to Andrew finishing grad school and diving into wedding planning, this past year has been packed with big moments.

None of it would have been possible without the constant love, encouragement, and support of our parents, family, and friends. We’re so grateful for each of you! We can’t wait to start this next chapter with you by our side.

Here’s to love, laughter, and everything still to come. Let’s celebrate!