We’re tying the knot!

We met in class while attending Harrisburg Area Community College. He was just starting college and I was in my 2nd year. After we talked for about 3 weeks and a few interesting Dunkin' Doughnuts chats, we decided to go out.

After we agreed to go out (on Sept. 15), we went to the movies the next night. We went to see Spiderman and I had a BLAST. He was funny, and sweet, and such a dork (a lovable one!). We went on another date a couple days later, and As you can tell, the date went well and many more followed.

We moved into our first apartment in Hamburg, Pa of October 2019, right before Covid hit. We had a blast living together and growing up together in that apartment. There were a lot of laughs and frustrating moments, but those memories made us who we are. We got our beautiful girls there (who were living there before we moved in) and they taught us a lot about how cats act and think. We grew closer as a family and I met some really awesome friends when we lived in that 3rd floor apartment.

We are crazy about our pets! We have 2 snakes (a Ball Python named Nylah, and a Hognose named Tophee), 3 ADORABLE cats (Solstice, Scarlett, and Mr. Hobbes) and a tarantula. If anyone knows me and how terrified I was of snakes, you’d be surprised since I have two (and a tarantula!). We got Nylah right after we moved into our first apartment. A great friend said she was getting rid of a baby Ball Python and I started doing a ton of research on them. Anthony had always wanted one, and I wanted to see if there were any dangers. We ended up getting Nylah off a Craigslist ad for $20, and bought everything she needed before we went to pick her up. The seller actually pulled a few snakes to choose from, and Anthony picked her out. Nylah has ended up being the most docile snake I ever imagined. She just wants to sleep, eat, and when handling her, she just wants to stay warm and explore a little. Tophee on the other hand is a little sassy! She’s coming out of her adolescent phase (all hognose snakes go through it where they’re a bit hissy at everything) and is incredibly food motivated. Hognose snakes are very slightly venomous, and she’s the spiciest snake we’ll ever get, but the venom to humans isn’t like what it is to their prey. For frogs (their diet out in the wild) and mice, their venom would be deadly, but for humans, it’s a mild bee sting. We rescued Solstice and Scarlett from the girl who used to live in the apartment before us. It was a long journey to get them healthy, get rid of all the fleas (we didn’t know about before moving it), and getting them spayed. It’s been a fun, sometimes stressful and frustrating journey with our girls, but we wouldn’t change a single moment!! Solstice is a love bug who wants pets and attention all the time, and is super friendly with new people! Scarlett is a Siberian mix, and she is more introverted and very kitten like. Scarlett’s very energetic and has no problem scaling your leg when she hears a can opening, because it obviously has to be tuna every time and would never be a can of mandarin oranges or green beans. We got Mr. Hobbes a few moths ago from my parents and he has become a part of our zoo of a family! He’s very talkative and playful, but enjoys cuddle naps with Solstice. We also have a Curly Haired Tarantula named Kyoshi (Yes, we love Avatar the Last Air Bender). We actually picked her up in Minnesota at Snake Discovery last year in September. On our way back we hit a reptile expo in Pittsburg, Pa and bought a Red-Footed Tortoise we named Wan Shi Tong. Wan was two weeks old when we got him and had just finished absorbing his yolk sack. Unfortunately when he was 5 months old we found out he had a genetic condition where he couldn’t grow. The last month we had with him were full of shots and helping him eat (Pedialyte and puréed baby food veggies and fruits). Sadly he passed February 27th, just a little over 6 months old. Most tortoises pass from this condition around 2-3 months, so we are happy he lived the longest happiest life he could. Now he’s in heaven eating all the strawberries and honeydew he can manage, waiting for us. That’s all our pets…for now anyways!

We moved into our first place with just us, in Grantville, Pa. We love our new home and can’t wait to make so many more memories here!