Drew and I met in October 2020. At the time, I had been working as a personal grocery shopper with his mom at Lowes Foods in Greer, SC. After working with his mom, Kim, for a couple of months, she told me that she thought I would be a good match for her eldest son, and she asked if I would be willing to meet him. I said yes, and she gave me his number. I reached out to Drew, and after a few days of texting and getting to know a little bit about each other, he asked me out on a date. We went to dinner at TakoSushi in downtown Greenville, SC, and we met each other right outside the restaurant for the very first time. Our first date was one for the memory books; we had the best time together. And it lasted for 6 hours!! After our first date, Drew asked me out on a second date, and we have been together ever since! (The photo above is not the day we met, but it's as close to that date as I can find)

Oct. 2020 - Feb. 2021: Right away, I knew Drew was eventually going to move to Florida. He told me on our first date that he was eventually moving close to Tampa for work. We did not let the reality of eventually becoming a long distance couple stop us from pursuing a relationship with each other. Drew and I spent four wonderful months dating each other in person while he still lived in Greer. On Halloween, I met the rest of his family, and I spent Thanksgiving with him and his extended family. He was my date at my best friend's wedding (as seen in the above photo), and we got to hangout with several of my friends throughout the months together. We went hiking at Table Rock for his birthday, and we even had a Christmas celebration with his family that would soon become tradition for us!

Feb. 2021: We did A LOT of traveling during the nearly 20 months we spent doing long distance. I was on a plane just about every other month, and Drew and I both spent our fair share of days driving from SC to FL (and vice versa). Long distance was tough, but it made us cherish every single second we had together.

July 2021: One of my sweetest memories of visiting Drew in Florida was my 23rd birthday. We went to Animal Kingdom for the day, and we had a blast! As we walked into the park coming up to the Tree of Life (pictured above), the music started playing, and the birds flew out of the tree, creating the most magical entrance for us.

Oct. 2021: We spent our one year anniversary together in Savannah, GA! It was the perfect halfway point for us between FL and SC.

Nov. 2021 - Jan. 2022: As the seasons changed and long distance continued, I always looked forward to Drew coming home to SC for the holidays. We spent Thanksgiving and New Years together.

May 2022: We both spent so much time traveling to see each other, but we had never gone on a road trip together until we went to Drew's best friend's wedding in VA! I got to meet Drew's best friends from college, and we had a fantastic weekend celebrating the newlyweds.

Oct. 2022: I moved to the Sunshine State, and our long distance journey finally came to an end! I moved in with Drew and his family into their new Florida home, and a new chapter of our relationship began.

Oct. 2022: We celebrated our 2 year anniversary at the beach, watching our first sunset on the gulf together!

June 2023: We took our first big trip together to California to visit our friends. It was the trip of a lifetime!! We went to the beach and explored the Oceanside/Carlsbad area, slept under the stars in Joshua Tree National Park (the coolest place ever), admired the massive Sequoia trees in Kings Canyon National Park, hiked over a mountain of packed snow in Sierra National Forest, and wined and dined in Santa Barbara. It was the BEST trip.

June 26, 2023: Drew popped the big question while we were in California at Kings Canyon National Park. When I tell you I was in SHOCK, and I had no clue it was coming, I mean it! Drew's entire family and our friends were all in on the big surprise, and I had absolutely no clue it was coming. It was the biggest surprise and the sweetest moment. And of course...I said YES!