This section began as a diary of my wedding planning adventures and has grown to include all things us: marriage, canine additions and our adventures as first time homeowners, to name a few.  Here’s a very much abbreviated version of “our story.”

Courtney and I met in 2004 when I was a Freshman and he was a Sophomore at Oxford College of Emory University.  He had me from hello; it took me a few more words to convince him, but I’ve always been good at talking.  We started dating in January of 2006 (January 14th to be precise, but who’s keeping track?).

Courtney graduated in 2007 and moved to Blacksburg, VA to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering at Virginia Tech and we began what would turn out to be a nearly four-year long-distance relationship.  The distance was a challenge, but I truly believe that it makes you both assess whether you’re just looking to be in any relationship, or if you’re committed to a relationship with each other.

Courtney asked me to marry him on June 6, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial during a Saturday morning jog.  Both of our families were in town ‘for the Bark Ball’, so we got to get dressed up all snazzy and share our special day with our closest family and friends!

In May, 2011, Courtney graduated from Virginia Tech and took a job in Herndon, VA.  We moved into our first townhouse apartment on Capitol Hill with our pit bull Lila, a Washington Humane Society alum.

We were married on October 22, 2011 in beautiful Savannah, Georgia surrounded by our amazingly supportive family and friends.

Over the next summer, Lila met an awfully handsome gentleman named Jim.  We agreed to let him come live with us and they fell in love.   We finally adopted him in December, as a Christmas present to ourselves, and officially became two-time foster failures.

In August 2012, we bought our very first home, just four blocks from our old apartment. Despite our attempts to consider other areas, Capitol Hill had already come to feel like home to both of us.  We love the restaurants, the Market, the many parks for our dogs and the general vibe of living in a small community within a big city.  We have quickly learned the cardinal rule of homeownership: nothing is finished, ever.

To be continued…