July 31st, 2022. The day our lives began to change, as we set out on the journey of a lifetime. A new career underfoot. A calling which urged at our souls for years. The mystical, fascinating halls of the academy provided hope to a future of boundless opportunities. Even so, there was one thing that we were not expecting to find in those halls. Love. The line at the cafeteria was empty, except for one particularly beautiful, curly headed blonde. She was waiting rather patiently as her sandwich was being prepared. The cunning, quick witted gentleman I am realized this was one of those boundless opportunities. I approached her and instinctively stated, “Wow! I didn’t realize they make sandwiches here.” To my amazement she replied, “Of course they do. You know, this is a cafeteria right?” The classic sandwich routine stood no chance to this fiery girl. Two months into the academy I never saw her once, but after the epic failure in the cafeteria we couldn’t stop crossing paths. As I would later find out, she was actually stalking me (although, she may not admit it to you.) After a couple of missed hints on my behalf, she convinced me to drop my legal books and pick up the beer keg as she dragged me to Oktoberfest. Being the big dummy I am, I still didn’t realize she was interested in me. In fact, I thought she was trying to set me up with her friend. That would be short lived however, as it became very clear during the course of that day that we had an undeniable connection. A connection that was beyond worldly understanding. She was Christ driven and someone who stood by her values in this ever changing world. She was everything I could want. We began spending the weekends with each other. Leaving the shooting grounds of the academy for the comforts of her family home in Maryland provided us the opportunity to bond outside of just work. She introduced me to the delicacies of Maryland blue crab, showed me around historical Annapolis, and introduced me to her family. Whether we went out for a bite, learned how to two-step, or spent the night under the stars at the national park campgrounds, there was never a dull moment. As our time at the Academy came to a close, it reminded us that we would soon be over 1,000 miles apart. There were many nights walking in circles around the campus talking about our intentions and if we could make “us” work. In short, we knew the journey would not be easy but we wanted to give it our best shot. Fast forward to today and you will find we are the same couple who fell in love with each other in those academy halls. Through the ups and downs we always come out on top. Now that we are taking this next step into a life shared with each other forever, the only thing we can continue to do is give it our best shot and trust in the God who put us here. Two ordinary people with an extraordinary God. If you made it this far, I would like to thank you for spending the weekend with us! It means the world to us to be surrounded by friends and family that contributed to us being where we are today. This will be a chance for all of us to spend quality time with one another. Considering this will be the first time a lot of us will be seeing one another, it did not seem appropriate to limit our first interaction to a single day. Also, with our families living so far apart there was no way to avoid a long journey for most people. Due to this, we decided we might as well enjoy this time in Cozumel. We look forward to seeing all of you in February and hope everybody is ready party as much as we are!