woohooo! we're getting married!

_____________________________________________________________________________ if you ask davis when he knew he was interested in em, he'll likely tell you her smile drew him to swipe right... and her love of humor and jokes kept him on his toes those first few dates in 2019. luckily, the smiles have  continued, for five years and counting.  we shared our first date to the st. louis zoo on one hot late summer day, and ended it with a late lunch at cane's. somehow, that first date wasn't enough for the two of us, as we went on our next three dates over the course of the next five days. coffee, "studying" together, and even a trip to petco.  the beginning of the pandemic marked a big turning point in our relationship, where on a spring break road trip together to the smokey mountains and beyond, the rapidly-changing world quickly warned us we were in for a whirlwind of a semester... 812 miles apart. davis followed wash u's orders and went home to baltimore, and emily stayed in st. louis to finish her master's degree at slu.  what became a very scary time for everyone meant that we had the privilege of reckoning early on with whether or not our new relationship was one that might just last. we both clung to the hope that this would be worth it in the end; as it turns out, god had bigger plans for the two of us.  we worked hard on our communication, future goals and priorities, and self-care early on. we welcomed challenges, learned how to love each other best, and grew closer together despite being apart. a sense of normal slowly started to return. saint louis quickly became our home in every sense of the word-- our community of friends and chosen family strengthened, while we visited our hometown families together over the next holiday season. looking back on the last five years, the rest felt so comfortable, safe, and ...dare I say... normal. our team grew by four paws in the spring of 2020 (the best bosco boy to ever exist... if you know, you know), then four more little paws joined in june of 2024 as we welcomed phoebe into the fam. our days now are spent predominately in our precious neighborhood in south st. louis city, caring for our community chicken coop, eating late-night tacos, and taking long walks in tower grove park.  we are thrilled to deepen our commitment to each other in marriage later this year, and can't wait to share that special day with each of you. if you've read all this, we hope your pint of ice cream is gone. if so, we recommend clementine's to restock. :-)​