CJ and Amanda met on their first day at Columbia SIPA in August 2017, three days after CJ left the Army, by the luck of grad school orientation groups, and they became close friends over a few months as they took classes together and explored NYC. But on Halloween, CJ took Amanda out for their first date at Gotham comedy club, where they were seated directly in front of the stage and mercilessly teased. Ten months later, they moved in together in Harlem. Gus, who CJ adopted from a dog shelter in North Carolina about four years prior, was a bit jealous at first but came around to Amanda as his dog mom. After moving between Harlem, Bushwick, and Astoria over five years in NYC, including six months of the pandemic nomad-ing around the northeast, CJ and Amanda decided to move down to Washington, D.C. and bought their first home together in May 2022. Gus was also very excited to head from the city to their charming neighborhood in the suburbs of Gaithersburg, Maryland.

In November 2023, after Amanda had been working in South Africa for four months, CJ and Amanda met halfway in France on her way back home. On their first day in Bordeaux, they were wandering around the waterfront of the town, biding their time before a winery tour, or so Amanda thought. After dodging a few moments of intermittent rain, CJ got down on one knee in the gorgeous Miroir d’eau in front of the Bordeaux palace and asked Amanda to marry him. Of course, she said yes! They then proceeded to celebrate with toasts all afternoon at each winery on the tour and haven’t stopped basking in the excitement since. CJ and Amanda can’t wait to celebrate their wedding day with those they hold most dear.