Sean and I met on our first day of school at the University of Georgia, but we didn't exactly meet in class. We met a few hours after class ended, at a bid day fraternity party (a far more romantic setting, one might say!). I was a brand new baby Theta, and all of my older sorority sisters were encouraging me to find a date to SigEp beach weekend (because that’s where all the “nice and fun” girls would be). I had lived in Athens for a little over a week, and I was eager to make new friends, so it sounded perfect to me! My bid day buddy and I walked up to the SigEp porch and were met by Sean and two of his new fraternity brothers. He was hard to miss, sporting a pair of costa sunglasses (it was dark out) and a bright yellow, illuminated traffic vest. And as it turns out, the older girls were right… The guys immediately brought up the beach weekend and their need for dates. So I (obviously) volunteered myself to go, and Sean was the first to speak up. We hit it off the rest of the night, talking for hours before my bid day buddy dragged me back to the Theta house. Four days later (much to my mom’s concern) I was spending my first weekend as a UGA student in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Though Sean and I’s romance didn’t quite take off that trip, I just so happened to meet two very nice, and very fun girls (who are, in fact, in my wedding).

Remembering me talk about my love for English, Sean asked me to help him out with his English papers for class that Fall. Sean and I spent a significant amount of time Freshman year in the Russell Hall study rooms, me grading (rewriting) his papers and us talking for hours. Time spent with him felt easy and organic, but I was still too gun-shy to date. However, we stayed friends, parted ways sophomore year, and reconnected two years later when Sean was working as a photographer for Theta recruitment. Less timid, I finally agreed to go on a date one Wednesday after class. Much to my surprise, Sean picked me up from Dawson Hall and drove me all the way to Atlanta, where we ate Oku sushi and Jeni's ice cream. It was a pretty great first “official” date.

As time would tell, Sean was off to Austin to start his career and I was off to Atlanta to start Nurse Practitioner school. Because of the distance, we decided not to date, thinking it too hard to maintain a new relationship so far away from each other. Originally wishing to go to Nashville for school, when Sean got word of my (disproportionate) disappointment about moving to Atlanta, he gave me a call. The date was February 20th, 2022. I was so afraid of starting a new program right after graduation and sad about the nonexistent life I dreamt up in Nashville. Sean, doing what he does best, talked me off of a ledge and reassured me my life in Atlanta would be great. “I bet you’ll even end up LIKING the place... In fact I’ll call you in a year, and I bet you’ll have something good to say about it”, he said. And Sean was (as he, unfortunately, often is) correct. That was the last I’d hear from him until February 20th, 2023 when, right on schedule, I received a call from Sean. We talked for hours that night catching up on each other’s lives, and when we hung up, the reality of how much I missed him stung.

But just four days later, I got a text from Sean telling me to get ready for a date, because he was on a plane on his way back to Georgia. He took the last flight out from Austin to Atlanta on Friday night, (which inspired our first dance song) and met me at 11pm at the closest place that was open. When I walked in, he was seated at a table with two glasses of red wine and a smile I’d remember anywhere. It was a rom-com movie moment, and I ATE IT UP… it’s safe to say we haven’t missed a day of talking to each other since.

We dated from Austin to Atlanta for about two years… which is a lot of flights and sky-miles and facetimes if you count. One of the best things about long distance, I think, is you learn rather quickly how invested your heart is in a relationship. As cheesy as it sounds, I learned that I would rather live in Sean's world every other weekend than live without him in mine. I'd say he learned the same about me. We might’ve been broke and skiplagging and sacrificing time at home every chance we got, but you just can’t help yourself when you love someone like that. It was the hardest, easiest thing we’ve ever done. As of this Spring, we finally get to live in the same city (Atlanta for a bit, and now Birmingham!) and it has been a lot of fun. Our favorite luxury is the unplanned, weeknight dates that were impossible 4 states away.

On May 3rd, 2025, dating Sean got even more fun, because he asked if I would do this forever with him. It was a really exciting, and very easy, yes to say the least. It is a joy and a gift to love and be loved by him, and we can’t WAIT for this next chapter of our lives. We are so thankful for each and every one of you for the hand you’ve had in our stories. We can’t wait to celebrate with you so soon! (and if anyone has any Birmingham Tex-Mex recommendations, let us know!)

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20)