All About Us

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Kate

I'm 26 years old and am a relatively recent transplant to upstate New York. I previously lived in the Atlanta area, but grew up in Seattle (with a brief stint in Chicago). I have a B.S. in biology; however, after three years of vaccine research, I now work in the insurance industry as a marketing coordinator (go figure). I love spending time with my best friend (that would be Casey), wedding planning, books, shopping (especially for purses and shoes and...oh, everything), playing poker (thanks to Casey), and traveling. Oh - and I want to learn how to knit! I'm a huge animal lover and am also passionate about HIV/AIDS awareness.

Casey

My husband-to-be is 29 years old and an upstate New York native. He attended college and grad school at SUNY Cortland, but moved back upstate afterward. He is a teacher (middle and high school physical education and aquatics) and coach (basketball and track). He's a genius at poker (he taught me how to play [and I love it] after I had spent my entire life thinking that it sounded stupid and boring) and an excellent cook. He is the most fun, intelligent, inspiring, sweet, thoughtful, good-looking, and all-around amazing man I have ever met!

How We Met

On August 16, 2008, my cousin, Jessica, married her high school sweetheart, Josh. I traveled to upstate New York from Atlanta for their wedding and obviously attended with no intention of meeting anyone. I had a blast that day, dancing with my cousins and enjoying a Fuzzy Navel or two. Midway through the wedding, I went outside with my mom. We were sitting on a bench talking when a group of guys walked by. One of them said something to me: "You're beautiful." My mom asked me who he was and I was like, "I have no idea. He's probably drunk!" (little did I know that he was my future husband!). And I ignored him.

Later on, my cousins and I were dancing (and laughing) while Mr. "You're Beautiful" and another guy sang terribly to "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC (they somehow charmed the band into letting them take over the microphones). When the song was over, a slow song came on and I went back to my table and my Fuzzy Navel and gazed wistfully at the happy couples who were dancing together. Suddenly Mr. "You're Beautiful" appeared and said, "You're going to dance with me now." And we danced, learned each other's names (so, he went from Mr. "You're Beautiful" to Casey), talked, and I think that I fell in love (just a little) right then and there.
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See the girl in the black and white dress (to the right of and behind the lady in the black dress on the left) and the guy (or the portion of the guy) in the light green dress shirt (to the left of the lady in the black dress)? That's me and Casey...my brother was bored and playing with my mom's iPhone and he snapped this picture. We had probably only known each other for 15 minutes or so when it was taken. Silly, I know, but I love it!
We spent the rest of the wedding together, talking and getting to know each other. My parents and some aunts, uncles, and cousins were planning a dinner at an Italian restaurant in town after the wedding and my mom invited Casey to go with us. At dinner, we learned that our families have known each other since our parents were in school - my aunt went to school with his dad! After dinner, Casey asked me to take a walk with him. We ended up walking all over town. It was very romantic.

So, What Happened Next?

I was supposed to fly home the day after the wedding. That, folks, did not happen. Casey offered to drive me to the airport, since the airport was two hours from where the wedding had taken place (which is where Casey grew up, my mom grew up, and where our wedding will be), but only an hour from his house (and he was planning to go home that day). It made sense, since my parents were staying longer than I was, so they would have had to spend four hours in the car over the course of the day in order to take me to the airport. We drove to the airport and decided that we were just not ready to part. Casey somehow talked a Delta employee into changing my departure to the next day without a change fee. We spent the afternoon in Burlington, Vermont, eating (at Boloco; it was that day that we discovered our mutual love for burritos and guacamole) and exploring the shops along Church Street.

I went home the next day and felt like a part of me was missing (cliche, but true). I learned that Casey felt the same way. We talked it over, trying to make sense of it...after all, we had just met. How was it possible that we missed each other so much?

We spent the next two months in a long-distance relationship, racking up frighteningly large phone bills and visiting each other as often as we could. We finally decided that I would move to New York. Was it fast? Yes. But it was also right. And the rest is history.
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