In September of 2018, Erik was visiting his parents in Nashville, TN to participate in Ironman Chattanooga. As he was driving to Chattanooga he got a notification on Bumble that he had a new match! Unfortunately, it was too late to meet up. After texting for 2 months Becca and Erik decided to finally meet in person despite living so far away. Erik drove from Pensacola, FL and Becca drove from Nashville, TN to Birmingham, AL. They had drinks in a retro bar called the Atomic and went to the zoo. I guess you could say it was a success! She would visit him frequently driving down to Pensacola between her classes and exams and he would visit Nashville on the weekends when he wasn't busy at work. Eight months after first meeting, Erik decided he was going to move to Nashville with his two cats to be closer to Becca. The rest was history.

I am beyond excited to introduce Erik to the rest of my friends and family at our vow renewal. Erik grew up in Lebanon, TN before moving to Hendersonville (where we now own our first home!) for high school. He earned his computer science degree from U. of West Florida and loves to help me with my programming projects. Erik had lived in Florida for 17 years when I met him by a stroke of luck. He is incredibly thoughtful, kind, always smiling, and ready for the day. You can find him training for a triathlon, cuddling cats, fishing, or watching The Office (over and over). One would describe Erik as soft-spoken and you'll realize he is also incredibly funny when he wants to be and never says no to an adventure. He is now a software engineer at HCA and very good at solving problems before they arise. This includes anticipating my needs (like donuts and coffee in the morning). Erik is also a coast guard veteran, artist, and decorated athlete - but he won't tell you this because he is too humble.

Let me introduce you to my wife, Becca. She was born in California and moved to Tennessee when she was 14. She is very thoughtful, caring, fun, smart, and always down for an adventure. She loves all animals but especially loves her dog Otis, cat Nelson, and our kitties Minion, Leda, and Nova who now consider her their mom. In her free time she enjoys baking delicious treats, working out, watching the latest binge worthy show, playing music (piano, guitar, or banjo), or working on a new painting. Becca also loves learning which is very important because she spends the majority of her time working on her Ph.D. in Pharmacology (which she hopes to defend very soon). After school, she wishes to work as a computational biologist. She's very persistent and when she wants something she won't stop until she gets it. She compliments me in every way and makes me a better person.