Sarah and Finn met, just like in all great love stories, in 8th grade P.E. class at J.L. Simpson Middle School in Leesburg, VA. Sarah pretended to be an expert in all things football, and wanted to toss one around during free time. She, unsurprisingly, wasn’t quite as experienced as advertised so Finn offered to help teach her how to properly throw one. The rest, of course, is history.

Not quite.

A friendship was sparked that day, but didn’t blossom into anything further until down the road. Two years later, Finn’s sick dance moves at a friend’s house and an embarrassingly bad first kiss after a group dinner date with the Finer Things Club (you’ll have to ask for details on this one) were enough to finally woo her into agreeing to “go out with (me) to....McDonalds''. These two became quite the pair for the remainder of high school---as the myriad pictures of the two in matching outfits for High School Spirit Day show--before they decided to go their separate ways and enroll in college at Elon & Wake Forest (conveniently located 45 minutes apart on I-40). The massive gulf separating the two campuses was quickly conquered via planes, trains, and automobiles, literally, and the two lovers were back on track. Amtrak, that is.

Four years of college flew by with too many memories to count, with plenty of ups, and a few downs along the way, before they were moving on to their next adventures: Sarah would be taking a Marketing position at FedEx’s corporate offices in Memphis, TN while Finn spent a year in Air Force limbo before finally getting a training slot in Wichita Falls, TX and a follow-on assignment at Andersen AFB, Guam. For a while, it seemed like 7,500 miles would be too great a distance for Sarah and Finn and for several months, they did indeed go their separate ways. What were they to do?

Take a magical 10 day trip to Oahu and the island of Hawaii for Thanksgiving---of course! Things were back on track (no pun here) for our two and they promptly followed that up with another 10 days in Tokyo and some serious conversations about what their next step might be. Thankfully, Finn was getting assigned a bit closer to home, but Abilene, TX was just too far away from Memphis for this couple who had already had their fill of long distance.

Enter the Coronavirus, and a previously impossible opportunity for Sarah to work remote full-time. Our pair would finally get a chance to live close to each other for the first time in seven years and would get a chance to see if they actually liked spending that much time together. Well, not only did they like it...they bought a house in little ole West Texas and promptly spent the rest of their days dressed head to toe in denim, with the boots and hat to match (their rescue pup, Deacon, is unfortunately not much of a fan of joining them in the matching costumes). Thankfully, you’ll never be able to kick ALL the Virginia out of the two new Texans, and they’ve decided to celebrate their wedding back home in Loudoun County surrounded by the deeply loved and cherished Friends and Family who have been there every step of the way.