Gift During the Grind

As for most students the summer time presents itself as an opportunity to decompress. Shifting focus from college life to relaxation at home in the summer’s sun. Although this is a well-deserved exchange & personally I would jump on the opportunity if it was offered in my current occupation. Trust me, your boss doesn’t find it amusing when you offer the idea of an office summer break. Unfortunately taking the summer off isn’t in the cards, maybe someday (keeping fingers crossed). My only hope for such a break was to live vicariously through Alana, but her plans didn’t align with my imaginary actions. Between spring & fall semester is my Girls time to grind.

Ok, so let me take a moment & brag about my Fiancé. Recently Alana Rae took another big step in her future career as an attorney, starting a new job at a law firm outside the city of Columbus.  This is big for many reasons, outside of the surface of “just getting a job” & two words/thoughts resonated with me that I’d like to draw your attention to:

1. The first word that comes to mind is “humility.” As with most interview processes they’re lengthy, uncertain, & can be quite painful. Subjecting yourself to this process by choice, whenever you could have taken the easy route is jaw dropping. The easy route of working for the family business; turning down comfort of familiarity, a higher income, & the luxuries of working with loved ones. Who wouldn’t relish in this opportunity? Alana never seizes to amaze me. She goes against the grain…. Demonstrating again she can do anything she puts her mind to, nailing the interview, & ultimately accepting the job.
2. The second would be “sacrifice”. On top of working this summer, Alana decided to take a summer class. I did summer classes in college but law school is another level. Her ability to balance studying, working, research, driving time, family, friends, spin class, bible study & of course taking care of me, go un-phased. All the while taking time from tanning pool side, Netflix series, vacations at the beach, summer concerts & of course shopping. This is a true sacrifice & being a passenger on this crazy beautiful ride it’s impossible not to be proud.

Although I believe I’m Alana’s biggest fan, I know that Jesus trumps this a thousand multiplied by infinity. You know what? I don’t even hold a candle to the illuminated smile God has for her or any of us when we succeed. Let me put it into perspective… Jesus is that embarrassing parent at the ball game, painted face with team colors, an obnoxious number one finger, & of course a megaphone shouting at the top of His lungs, “THAT’S MY KID”! God is cheering for you during your grind & bragging to the Angels in Heaven about His creation. I promise Jesus will see you through the process if you put Him first. Remember, “Seek first the kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these things will be added to you”.

I say all of that to close with this & honestly it wasn’t to brag about Alana (well, maybe a little) but more so to brag about Jesus. In all seriousness, my hope is to bring glory to the throne. Alana Rae continues to WOW me every day, not only because of her accomplishments, but her thirst for Christ. I have faith that by the grace of God Alana will continue to have success during all of life’s expeditions, because she understands that Jesus makes things happen. So… my message is to continue grinding at your job, your education, your relationships… because success is inevitable if you continue to work hard. Even better though, if you put God first during your grind it’s limitless on what will be presented as a gift while you strive toward your goals.

Lastly I know this all too well.. As I sprinted toward my own goals, God close-lined me harder than Stone Cold Steve Austin on Monday Night Raw when Alana Rae walked into my life. At the moment my focus shifted from my goals to God’s gift (Alana). The start of everything. God confirming again He’s got gifts bigger than your goals! Making loving you eAZy.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read our blog. May all your names be found in the Book of Life. God Bless – Z

30 Things I Love About Zach

In honor of Zach’s 30^th birthday today, I thought I’d write a post about the 30 things I love most about Zach!

1. His patience and resilience to put up with me.
2. His drive and hard work. His perseverance to give his all in all aspects of life, whether it be love, work, or the military.
3. His humor. Whether it’s him teasing me or making jokes that give you that deep laugh that make you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.
4. His unconditional love for me. The fact that he loves me in an indescribable way.
5. His attention to the details. Zach always does the little things.
6. His smile, sometimes I have to nag to get him to do it, but when he does, I can’t help but smile back.
7. His ability to make every day special, not just holidays and birthdays.
8. His way with words. Many days I am blessed with special texts and reminders of his love. (I mean did you read his last blog post? *insert heart eyes*)
9. His uplifting and encouraging spirit. He always tells me I can do anything if I put my mind to it.
10. His love and centeredness around family. In our crazy busy lives he always makes time for not only his family, but a lot of time with mine.
11. His love for his Grandma. No one loves Zachy more than Grandma Freeland and his love is very evident back for her.
12. His love for all the woman in his family. It may be flowers for my mom when he gets me a bouquet, always thinking outside the box for his mom and sisters on holidays and flowers for his step mom during a tough time, Zach always makes sure we all feel special.
13. His love for fitness and trying new things. Keto, new workouts or helping me in my journey, Zach succeeds in whatever he puts his mind to.
14. That he inspires me to take risks and do things I wouldn’t have done, had he not pushed me to go for it.
15. The way he smells- thank you Abercrombie Fierce.
16. The thoughtful gifts he always gives. I never have to give him ideas for holidays. I could mention something in a text 5 months prior and he’d pick up on it.
17. The terrible gnome collection he make me keep on the bookshelf in the living room. I guess it’s kind of cute.
18. That we can ride in the car for 3+ hours without a radio and never get bored.
19. He understands me on the deepest level.
20. He knows my love language and works every day to love me that way.
21. His sincere compliments and always making me feel beautiful.
22. How incredibly handsome he is.
23. His style and ability to make any outfit look good, except when he tucks his sweats into his socks.
24. His love for Dexter, our kitty, and how cute he is when they play.
25. How amazing of a boyfriend, now Fiancé, he has always been and how I cannot wait to be his wife.
26. That he is not afraid to be silly and goofy with me.
27. The way he says “I love you button” and gently kisses me goodbye at 5am before work.
28. The way he always helps out around the house, with dinner, with dishes, cleaning and laundry. He always make my job 10000x easier.
29. The way he is always working to improve himself, and grow in our relationship.
30. Mostly, I love his faith in God, his efforts to create a Christ-centered life and relationship and all the ways he helps me in my own personal journey. “I can conquer the world with one hand, as long as you’re holding the other.” Happy birthday sweet boy! I love you so much.

-Alana

What is love?

What is Love?  More specifically, what is love within the context of “two people”? We all experience some type of love whether it be from family or close friendships but a true mutual connection between two people is rare. I’d suggest this experience is limited because of a small screen most live inside rather than existing in the world around them.

The first thing we do in the morning is roll over to our phone, open a few apps to check current events, creep on past lovers, or count the number of likes from a previous post. Whatever it is, we are all a victim of this cycle. Our social media feed reminds us how perfect life can be as each flawless picture illuminates setting our expectations to a hopeless standard that unfortunately isn’t reality. I know this all too well… as I sit on the couch, pizza in one hand & my iPhone in another. Scrolling through Instagram for no reason at all only to be alerted by a ripped dude with abs & think “wow, only if I looked like that”.  Foolishly comparing myself, I wipe the pizza grease from my fingers & pull up the front of my shirt checking the current status underneath, only to be welcomed with a fat roll or two maybe three (who’s counting?).  I digress.

I say all of that to say this…

As I sat back the other day, after the noise of life settled I meditated on the same question introduced in the opening sentence, “What is Love”?  This four letter word is so simple yet confusing and in my eyes has been lost in translation. I’ve been guilty of this myself, using something I see as secrete to describe meaningless things/events but under used within the context of my relationship with Alana Rae.  I say underused because there’s no amount of chivalrous acts or limit to exceed when expressing, to your significant other that they’re loved. Which leads to the answer of my overarching question and that’s “To Always” here is my descriptions (no order) of what makes loving Alana eAZy:

To Always – To continue through no matter what, not when it’s convenient within your personal agenda. This is an eternal promise to pursue & should be everlasting.

*Protect – Not only on a physical level but also emotionally.

*Preserve – Keep the relationship alive. Continue to date, continue to laugh, & continue to keep your love lasting by building a solid foundation while growing together.

*Trust – The integrity to be dependable in all situations and have that same confidence in him/her.

*Hope – Wishful thinking is not hope. Have the assurance that all of your desires will be met and have the faith that your needs & wants will be seen through.

In closing, what makes loving Alana “eAZy” is simple teachings found in the Bible. I didn’t come up with any of this on my own but acted with intent to pursue a life full of love for Alana and I, as she does the same for me.

“Love brings color to life & what doesn’t matter fades to gray”

-Zach

Wake Me Up For The Wedding

Writing this post is surreal for so many reasons. I had always told my family I was going to be 30 before I got married and may never have kids. When I met Zach, that all changed. Immediately I knew he was the one and I didn’t want to wait any longer than I had to, to be his wife. It’s so crazy to think that (God willing) I will be married by 22 and graduate Law School by 23. Before Zach and I got engaged I feel like I had our whole wedding planned via pinterest, trust me when I say, after you’re engaged looking at wedding stuff is 1,000x more fun.

Zach and I have been engaged for two months today and have done very little by way of wedding planner. The week Zach proposed I started my first set of finals, followed by Christmas, New Years and vacation. Finally getting to jump into planning has been so fun and I can’t wait to share some of things we’ve done so far.

Thanks Tor for the cutest lil ring dish. ily! Zach did such an awesome job picking out my rose gold accented ring.

Date: 

The first thing Zach and I discussed was date, or at least a general timeline. We ended up settling on the summer of 2019. We’ve tentatively set the date for July 20, 2019- contingent on venues in Columbus. July worked out the best for us because it gives me about 2 months after finals to get the last minute things done before the wedding. It also gives us plenty of time to honeymoon before I go back to school. So many people have stressed the importance of taking a honeymoon and not putting it off. My dad told me that he can remember more about him and my moms honeymoon (almost 33 years ago) than he can about our last 10 vacations. So many people have asked why not wait until I finish law school? By the time I graduate, study, and take the bar it will be nearly October and almost 3 years into our engagement. And lets be honest, I’m just ready to marry Zach as soon as I can!!!

Absolutely in love with my Erin Condren wedding planner. It has EVERYTHING you can imagine, and the stickers make it even better.

Colors:

Another thing Zach and I have been able to really solidify are our colors. Zach has few requests for our big day, one of them however, is that he would really like to wear his Army dress uniform. Being that his uniform top is navy and I love the combination of navy and blush, we jumped immediately to that. I want lots of blush, rose gold and gold accents everywhere. I envision jewels and flowers and obviously, lots of pink. It’s honestly so exciting to look at ideas and inspiration and dream about it being implemented in our wedding.

Another thank you to Nicolette for the cutest Kate Spade tumbler, Noelle for the essential mug of all brides to be and Skyler for the best phone pocket equipped with my new initials.

Wedding Planner:

One of the most exciting things we have done so far is hire a wedding planner (and by that I mean we literally hired her today). My original plan was to meet with multiple planners and then make my decision. When I met our planner though, we clicked immediately. She is a full service planner and will be with us through all our big and small decisions, down to attending and coordinating the day of the wedding. She is amazing and I can tell already she will be able to make our dream wedding a reality. Hiring a wedding planner was extremely high on my priority list. Being in school full time, Zach working and being away with the military occasionally and my mom (my in house wedding planner) being an hour away at all times made the appeal of a wedding planner that much bigger. Zach and I have decided to have our ceremony and reception in Columbus and having someone who knows the market and a large amount of vendors in the area will take a lot of strain out of our planning process. I have been to very few weddings and had no idea the amount of things that go into a wedding. Looking at her list of services, I know that we are in good hands. We have not picked a venue yet but I have no doubt she will make our vision come true no matter where we choose.

The biggest thank you to my soon to be hubby for asking me to spend forever with him. The beautiful ring is just an added bonus.

 

Although we haven’t got to plan too much, I am ecstatic for what is to come. I can’t wait to share our journey with my friends and family, and all of you who are kind enough to read our blog. I can’t thank all my awesome friends and family enough for their excitement and all the thoughtful (and super fun) engagement gifts that have been sent my way.

More details to come,

A & Z

 

Disney Recap

Can’t believe I’m finally sitting down to do a recap on our vacation at the happiest place on Earth! Its been almost two weeks since we returned home and what a crazy two weeks it has been. We arrived home last Sunday night and I started classes back up Monday morning. I was anxiously anticipating Spring Semester because that finally meant GRADES! Law School exam grading apparently takes a lot longer than undergrad ever did, so we had to wait until the middle of the first week of classes to finally hear how we did Fall Semester. I was ecstatic to find out that my hard work paid off and I earned my spot on the Dean’s List. My excitement quickly faded when I realized looking at my freshly filled out planner, how busy I was going to be the next couple weeks. This week alone I had about 100 pages of reading (when you’re reading case after case this feels like 1,000), a practice essay due on Nuisance Law, a career development project and an argument structure due for my Legal Writing Class. Whew! Needless to say this week was jam-packed, and I am finally getting a chance to write about our awesome vacation!

Eager to get our on way, we arrived at the airport to find out that our first flight out of Columbus had been delayed and we would miss our connecting flight in Charlotte. After speaking with an attendant, we made arrangements to fly on a separate flight from my parents and arrive 6 hours later than planned. Within minutes of rescheduling all our flights, we were called back to the podium to hear the good news that our connecting flight had also been delayed and we could return to our original flights. Yay! A huge shout-out to American Airlines and their support for the military. They allowed us to check our bags for free, waived our bag weight overage (Nicolette may have brought the biggest suitcase I’ve ever seen 😉 and immediately upgraded Zach and I to first-class when we began to board early with his military ID.

When we arrived in Orlando, we got settled at our rental home and went out for a nice dinner to get some fuel for Disney Day 1! When we finally arrived at the park we had to stop at Guest Services to get our tickets activated. Zach had used his military discount to buy our tickets through his job so we had to link them to our magic bands at the park. After doing this, we were stopped by a Guest Relations worker who had overheard that Zach was military. He asked Zach if he would be willing to participate in the flag retreat ceremony that takes place everyday at Magic Kingdom. Before heading to Disney, I had read a couple articles about things to do at Disney and this was on the list. I couldn’t believe I was going to get to watch my Fiance be apart of such a touching ceremony. Not only did he get to be apart of the ceremony, they gave us three additional fast passes to use on any ride at any time in the park.

At the Flag Retreat Ceremony, they recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the band played the National Anthem while the flag was brought down. It was an amazing and all around moving ceremony. After the flag was brought down and fold they handed it to Zach and he got to march down Main Street with the band as my family and I got to follow. It was so awesome to not only witness but be apart of such a special ceremony. I was such a proud fiance seeing my man carry our Nation’s colors at Disney.

Day 1 was definitely a hard one to beat. Day two we traveled the world at Epcot. We started off with “Soarin”- probably one of my favorites, even though I thought Shane was going to get sick the moment we took off “in flight” and ended the day visiting all the awesome countries. We started in Canada, ate crepes in France, tried Violet Sake and Sushi in Japan, sipped on a Bellini in Italy, looked at Stein’s in Germany, tasted curry pockets in China, sampled “Viking Coffee” and a creme puff the size of my head in Norway and ended the day with some much needed Mexican Cuisine.

After Epcot, we made our way to Hollywood Studios to conquer a fear Zach and I both had as kids- Rock’n Rollercoaster. When we decided on Disney, both of us told similar stories about waiting in line with our parents and chickening out at the last minute. We overcame our fear together and agreed it was our favorite ride so far. We survived the Tower of Terror, explored some Star Wars history and ended the night at Minnie’s Diner. At the Diner we met Mickey and Minnie, got pictures with Goofy and even had Donald and Daisy come to our table.

Day 3 we went out for a big brunch, saw pitch perfect 3 (5 stars from me) and visited Animal Kingdom for a short day followed by a 3 hour dinner. Zach and Dad shared a 50oz steak and 1.5 lb lobster, we munched on some alligator and tasted crab claws. At Animal Kingdom we rode Expedition Everest and that was a fun one full of twists, turns and the Yeti chasing us a long the way.

Shout out to Shane and Nic for our awesome new pins!

On our last day, we went to Universal Studios and opted for the unlimited fast pass. We visited Harry Potter World, tried Butterbeer (sorry but it was a letdown, definitely go for the hot) and rode the rides both at Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. Harry Potter world as a whole was awesome! Some of our favorite rides were the Hulk, Transformers, both of the Harry Potter rides and the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. A lot of the rides at Universal are simulations and they were awesome! You wear 3D glasses and really feel like you’re in the movie or set.

Overall, our vacation was amazing and jam-packed! Returning to Disney as an adult was everything I could’ve asked for.

Thanks for reading,

A & Z

Our Year in Review {2017}

Looking back on 2017, this year will surely be hard to top. 2017 has been full of lots of fun, too many memories to count, adventures and a whole lot of laughs.

For the last 5 years or so, my family has always taken a summer and a winter vacation to start off the year. We started the year in Destin, Florida in the most beautiful home by the beach. Zach and I love coffee, so we made sure to find a local coffee shop (Bad ass coffee, you rock!). We ate lots of brunch, including the best cinnamon roll french toast I’ve found and spent lots of time in the hot tub, thanks to the 60 degree temperatures.

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We celebrated Zach’s 29th birthday in Cleveland, by visiting the Rock n’ Roll hall of fame, had lunch where Zach had to specially request a steak at 11am, and ended the night by seeing the Lumineers together.  29 looks good on you sweet boy!

We went to lots of sporting events! We saw the Cavs, the Pirates (my family has season tickets so we saw them a lot), the Blue Jackets and the Steelers. There’s nothing I love more than experiencing life with Zach by my side.

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We went to Washington DC with my family. We stayed at the Trump International Hotel,  visited all of the National Monuments, saw the White House, watched the changing of the guard, walked through Arlington and feasted the most immaculate Easter Brunch.

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Being with Zach since November of 2015, he has been by my side essentially my entire time at Kent State. Doing post-secondary in high-school, I finish my undergrad in two years. This means that Zach was by my side every single one of my finals weeks. He has been a real trooper over the past two years and really helped me through undergrad. A long with being by my side through undergrad, he was a huge support system during my time studying and taking the LSAT (for me to get into law school) and during the entire application process. Through the hard times, he was there and even more to celebrate the good times. This past year, I was blessed enough to gain admittance into Capital Law School with more than a 50% scholarship and graduate from Kent State’s Business College and the Kent State Honors College.

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While the boys are away, the girls will play. Zach went away for military training for a couple of weeks so mom and I went on a couple adventures. We vistied Nemacolin Spa for some pampering and headed off to NYC for some girl time with some other women in our family. Our first day was filled with more food, we found Bantam Bagels, got some pizza, we got edible cookie dough at DO and ended the night by seeing Hamilton on broadway. I’m pretty sure I’ve never been more obsessed with anything more than the Hamilton soundtrack. We visited the 9/11 memorial (and what an emotional journey that was), we saw the Yanks at Yankee Stadium, we took a ferry around the city and took a pedi-cab around central park.

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When Zach came home, we planned a trip to Cincinatti to see the Zoo and feed the giraffes (my favorite!!), eat a nice dinner out and spend the following day at Kings Island.

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We celebrated my 21st birthday and Zach planned the best surprise 21st birthday for me back in Kent with the help of all my best friends.

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We traveled to Cincinnati for Military Family day at Zach’s unit, then drove to West Virginia for Zach’s cousins beautiful wedding, and drove back to Columbus to jetset off on an incredible vacation to Phoenix, Arizona, Williams, Arizona and the Grand Canyon. We swam pool-side at our house near the mountains, went hiking through the Arizona canyons, rode camels at the zoo, ate a 30 inch hot dog at the Alice Cooper bar, caught a Diamondbacks game, visited Route 66, took a train equipped with food, drinks, live entertainment and train robbers, finally ending up in the most majestic place, the Grand Canyon. I’ve traveled through Europe, seen the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, and the Swiss Alps but seeing God’s handy-work in the Grand Canyon was unlike any other.

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After returning from Arizona, I moved to Columbus and began my first year of Law School. Zach also received a promotion at work and celebrated a year with the Department of Defense. We got professional photos done (thanks Bailey Lones Photography) in our quaint little area of German Village and I worked to get through my first semester.

Zach and I spent another Thanksgiving together, and 3 days later he asked me to spend forever with him (see my last post for the full story)!!

Between my first law school finals, Christmas and New Years the end of the year has absolutely flown by. This year has been unlike any other. Between getting into law school, graduating undergrad, vacations and adventures, our engagement and a semester under my belt 2017 is going to be hard to beat! Although this post was long, 2017 was very good to us and I couldn’t narrow down the memories.

Cheers to 2018,

A & Z

How He Asked

My mom always told me that when I met the one I was going to marry, I would know. I never believed in love at first sight, and surely thought I wouldn’t be thinking about marriage when I first met someone. However, when I met Zach, that all went out the window. As soon as I met him, (yes, even in the nasty quaker steak basement) I knew he was the one for me. From day one, he made me laugh, smile and feel like I had never felt before. From the beginning, Zach always said “when you know, you know” and always assured me that “he knew”.. and I knew too. A little over two years after Zach and I met, Zach proved he knew, in true fairy tale fashion.

A little over a month ago, on November 26th, Zach asked me to marry him in a way I will never forget. Over the span of a couple months, and weeks, Zach, together with the help of my mom and family, masterminded the perfectly planned proposal. About a week before the proposal my mom called and asked if I would help out a friend by being in a music video for her friend’s boyfriend. She convinced me it would be something super low-key where there would be a few still shots and maybe a couple of me casually walking around. I kind of figured it was another typical thing my mom would offer me up for (if you know my mom, you’d know this is something she’d do). Zach “made plans to go shooting with my brother” even going as far as having my brother come pick him up “to go shoot” while I headed off to the “music video” shoot with my mom.

When we got to Dawes Arboretum, the location of the music video, I met with Denzel who was doing the music video, a photographer and another friend of theirs who was helping out. They then walked me around a corner to the most beautiful path, surrounded my trees, a pond glistening as the sun started to set and a quaint little bridge. They got me all mic’d up, took a couple of still shots and then told me they wanted to show me some inspiration on their iPad so I knew what to do going forward. When they handed me the iPad, I realized there was a video of Zach pulled up. They told me to click play and Zach began telling me what he truly had planned for the day. Among other things, he made me swoon with his loving words, and explained he had planned a special day with my family. At the end of the video he said “I’ll see you soon” and the photographer and videographer led me down a path.

As I walked down the path, my brother arose from the woods, gave me the biggest bear hug and explained that he was happy for me and knew he was handing me off to a great man who would protect and love me for all of my days. After I walked away from my brother, my mom was there waiting to express her love for Zach and I, share kind words and pass me on to my dad. Being a huge daddy’s girl, I knew this was going to be a big moment. Watching our video over and over I can hear my dad saying “I love you to the moon and back”, something we’ve said since I was very little. He then escorted me to the most magical scene, Zach waiting for me on a secluded bridge, with his journal in hand. Zach guided me to the bridge and read me words that I’ll remember everyday forever.

I had always joked with Zach that I had some requests for whenever he did propose. They include having my nails done, getting it on video, using my full name and asking for my dads blessing. Zach did all of these on an even bigger level. Being as close as I am to my family, I could not have thought of a better way to say yes to spending forever with Zach, than the way he included my family. Above that, I am so thankful for Zach and my mom’s “music video” plan led to the greatest keepsake I could ask for – the video of our proposal. Zach made my dreams come true, when he came into my life, and every day since then, life has gotten with him by my side.
Check out our video to see the whole proposal!!

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Let the wedding planning begin,
A & Z

Our Story

Hi everyone, and welcome to our new blog- loving you is eAZy!

About a week ago, while Zach was away celebrating the holidays with his family, he texted me “let’s start a couples blog”. At first, I thought he was joking. I had never really been into reading blogs or following bloggers online, but recently had started following some new fashion bloggers in hopes of winning 1 of about 50 random holiday giveaways I had entered (Surprise! I didn’t win anything). When I asked if he was serious he replied “I mean why not, after everything you’ve shown me, I believe we could do it, plus you’re prettier anyway.” As always, leave it to Zach to be my biggest cheerleader. I figured he would forget or sweep it under the rug but since then, he’s reminded me daily to get the blog going, so here we are!!

How we met:

In our first post, I’d like to talk a little bit about us, how we met and where we are now. A little over two years ago, in early November of 2015, Zach and I met at our undergrad university, Kent State (go flashes!!). We always joked that we were kind of doomed from the start by the looks of our first date. I was nervous about going out with a guy I didn’t know, so I told him I would pick him up for our date. We proceeded to go to Quaker Steak and Lube in the basement of the KSU student center where I paid for our dinner with my meal plan (what a charming date, huh?). As odd as our first date was, we clicked from the start. After that night, I’ve spent everyday with him since, and as of November 26, 2017, I get to spend forever with him!! Aside from our first date, Zach has been a prince charming ever since. From planning awesome nights out, my surprise 21st birthday, and a fairy-tale proposal, I knew he was the one from the start.

Where we are now:

In the incredible two years Zach and I have spent together, we’ve grown together, learned together and experienced some amazing life events hand in hand. Since meeting in 2015, Zach has graduated from Kent State with a degree in Poli Sci and got a job working for the Department of Defense in the Defense Logistics Agency as a contract specialist (this is just fancy government language for a buying negotiator for the military as a civilian). Zach has also been in the military for 8 years, and served a tour in Afghanistan. He is now in the National Guard where he reenlisted for 6 more years. I am so thankful for my hardworking man both as a soldier and civilian. Since we met, I also graduated from Kent State with a degree in Economics, and have begun continuing my education to become a future corporate attorney at Capital Law School in Columbus, Ohio (just trying to be the next Elle Woods, ya know?). Exactly a month ago today, Zach popped the question in the most perfect way, and as you can see- I SAID YES!! I’ll save that story for another post.

In 2+ years, Zach has been my prince charming, my best friend, and my biggest supporter. We are so excited to continue to share our love, our story and our adventures with random posts along the way.

Thanks for reading,

A & Z