Wedding Date on Mar 14, 2020

(From Alex’s perspective): The first time we met, we were both freshman, attending college in Washington state. One day after class, I (Alex) ran to catch up with Allison in a parking lot. I was trying to make a move! This included asking her the basic freshman questions (name, major, etc.) and apparently it wasn’t very inspiring because after that, it would be almost 2 years before we connected again. Allison left school the next year to teach middle school students on the island of Palau. I stayed busy that year taking classes and covering our school’s athletic teams in the student newspaper. Days before our junior year began, a mutual friend invited us both over to his house for a bonfire. For me, it was mostly seeing familiar faces again after the summer, though I recognized Allison and knew she wasn’t on campus the previous year. We ended up in the same group conversation and I really wanted to connect with her again. She later mentioned that I kept looking over at her, which may have given it away, but I was definitely interested and she seemed to be laughing at my jokes. The same group of mutual friends organized a weekend camping/cabin trip a week later where we hit it off again and spent a lot of time talking and enjoying each others company when we were on the same team for the game Catch Phrase. We began to spend more time one on one together. Going on coffee dates during the day and staying out late on “7 minute drives” where we would drive out into the country and talk about anything and everything. From fun and light conversations - to serious moments where we opened up with each other about our pasts, hopes for the future and feelings for each other. After 8 months of officially dating, I found myself with two internship opportunities to decide between for that summer. The choices were interning with an athletic company in the Midwest doing communications (something that seemed to be very on track with what I thought I wanted to do) or going to Allison’s hometown of Orlando, Florida for an accounting internship with a healthcare system. Everything was telling me to take the communications internship and I almost accepted it. At the very last minute I decided that spending a summer together with Allison in Florida would be too good to pass up. So that’s what we did! We called it “Summer 16” and looking back on it, it was one of the best decisions of my life because that’s when my love for her was solidified. We listened to Drake, spent time on the beach and more importantly, learned more about who each other really were. I knew she was the person I wanted to be with! Since then, we’ve been able to travel quite a bit with each other - which is something we really like to do. Ranging from: - Road Tripping across the country (Florida to Washington) - Spending a semester abroad in England and traveling through Europe - Driving to Wyoming where I proposed to her at my family’s cabin in the mountains. We live together in Chicago now where we enjoy pursuing good food, going to Cubs games and taking walks along Lake Michigan (when it’s not too cold!)