“Evan and I are middle school sweethearts. We first started “talking” through one of my best friends and then later gmail chat because I didn’t have a cell phone yet. It was October of 8th grade year and gossip leaked out that Evan and his best friend were supposed to ask out at lunchtime the girls they had a crush on. Evan got nervous (almost chickened out) and decided to do it later in the last period of the day, gym class. He ran over to me during class and asked me to be his girlfriend on the Plaza Middle school tennis courts, and then proceeded to go back to playing tennis with his friends. Later that night we had our first date at Hunt Club Farms where we were both too nervous to even hold hands. Evan is my best friend and that stayed true all through our journey of growing up together. We went to the same high school together where we played multiple sports and had both earned spots on a collegiate sports team. However, my college lead me to out of state. Evan and I did 4 long years of distance from Va to FL where we only got to see each other once every 2-3 months due to our sports seasons and crazy practice schedules. FaceTime dates were crucial, even if it was just for us to call and stream a movie through one screen to another. We persisted through the ultimate test of a relationship where we were finally able to be in the same home town together after I finished college. When Evan graduated, we got our first apartment together that will always be our special place where Evan proposed to me on our balcony at sunset after a full day of moving in. Since then, we have expanded our little family with our puppy Nyla before tying the knot! The rest is history ”