To quote a comedian we enjoy, "we don't like to tell people how we met because we met the same way every other millennial couple did...we met online". Our first date was at Blue Mountain Brewery near Charlottesville, VA. Alex was in the second part of the Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course training at the time, on his way to becoming an Army JAG, and Shawni was living about an hour away in Harrisonburg, VA where she worked at her alma mater, James Madison University. The brewery was a comfortable halfway point between us, and after a lunch meet up that lasted hours, we went to Bold Rock Cidery and made a whole day hangout of our first date.

Alex being stationed on Oahu initially had us convinced that our relationship had an inevitable expiration date. But like any good Hallmark movie, we made the most of the impossible over the holidays before he moved to Hawaii. After attending his graduation from the JAG school, we piled into his jeep along with his father, Jon, and the 3 of us drove across the country from Charlottesville, VA to San Diego, CA where Shawni met the Vanscoy family for the first time. Shawni flew home to Virginia and spent the holidays with her family, while Alex rang in 2020 with his mother, Mary, in Honolulu, having just officially moved to Hawaii where he's now stationed as an Army JAG Officer. Shawni visited in February 2020, where they embarked on all of the touristy, Hawaiian adventures for her first trip to Oahu. She returned in early March, which we had planned to serve as the "figure out our next steps" trip to decide how serious this was after all. Throw a global pandemic and resulting shutdown into the mix, and needless to say, we felt like roommates by the time Shawni was able to return home at the end of April 2020. The silver lining of the pandemic for us was that the time Shawni spent "stuck" in Hawaii proved that our relationship was the real deal. The circumstances later presented an opportunity for her to move permanently and continue her professional role remotely. We officially became roommates on August 5, 2020. We visited both families over the holidays, made some lasting memories, then rang in 2021 in a bigger apartment with a 3rd roommate as we brought home our mini goldendoodle puppy, Kona.

The proposal did not exactly go as Alex planned. Alex had purchased the ring months prior and was trying to figure out how to pop the question. We were about to get a second dog, since we apparently love spending money and hate sleep, so a staycation prior to her arrival seemed like the perfect time. Alex booked a hotel room on the beach and planned to propose at sunset before going to dinner. So, we made a reservation and Alex insisted that we be ready to go long before dinner and watch the sunset first. The plan was to pop the question with a beautiful Hawaiian sunset in the background and not a lot of people. As it turned out, tourism was back in full swing at this point and there were people everywhere on the beach. After going down from the room Alex noticed this and insisted we walk down a little further to get a better view. We ended up in a parking lot, still surrounded by people... namely, shirtless children riding scooters and teenagers taking prom selfies. This was not the romantic location Alex had hoped for. Shawni, somehow completely clueless, suggested they walk back toward the hotel. On the way back, Alex got nervous and couldn't wait any longer; he said a few incredibly charming things and dropped to one knee. Alex asked Shawni to marry him, to which she allegedly responded "yes", but Alex did not hear this and still does not have confirmation, but we are planning a wedding so the odds are good!

On October 2, 2022, we will celebrate the start of our forever life together and can't imagine it without you. We have to give the biggest Thank You to our family and friends for loving and supporting us throughout our lives and our relationship together. We can't wait to celebrate with you on our wedding day; "sea" you in San Diego!