OUR
Story
His Side
​
As anyone who knows me
knows, I am one for corny
phrases and speeches, so it
seems only appropriate that
love would “find me when I
least expected it”. Entering senior
year of college single, living with my
best friends in a frat house, a long-term relationship was the last thing on my
mind. Walking into my winter term study
abroad prep class and scanning the room to look for familiar faces my eyes fell on Sammi and I was instantly blown away. S0, naturally being the confident, cool, upperclassman that I was, after class I went and introduced myself… and was immediately and unceremoniously shot down in flames of rejection. Undeterred over the next several weeks, I tried my best to get a seat next to her in class and engage her in the very suave and charming manner all cocky frat boys seem to think is so effective. Needless to say I failed spectacularly. Giving up on my pursuit I settled for her begrudging acceptance that she would be stuck with me for at least 4 weeks in January. Upon our arrival in Dubai, cliques and smaller groups within our class began to form, and by some luck Sammi seemed to want to hang with the misfit group that I was a part of. Once we arrived in India it became apparent that Sammi and I were going to be fantastic travel partners. Through a series of incredibly entertaining and adventurous moments we grew to be close friends in the way that only people who have traveled in close proximity for several weeks can be. You get to know people, good and bad, in a short amount of time filled with adrenaline, wonder, and excitement. Then one night in a palace in Bhavnagar our close friendship evolved into something more, which lasted the rest of my time at Elon. While I thought that leaving Sammi single when I left Elon was the right thing to do, to not burden this beautiful and social girl with a long distance boyfriend, she had other ideas. And aren’t I glad she did. The last almost 5 years of my life have been more amazing than I could have imagined, filled with laughter, love, adventure, spontaneity and events where I get to show off my absolutely stunning arm candy. So to end on another cliché: I could not be more grateful or lucky to be marrying my best friend on the face of the earth.
Her Side
​
​
Fate has a funny little way of
bringing people together. I
went into a three week trip
looking to fulfill my lifelong
dream of going to India,
and ended up coming back with
my soulmate. I had never met a
guy as kind and genuine as Drew
Drbal, so, naturally, I mistook his
attempts at being friendly as creepiness and avoided him in the trip's prep class. Once the trip started, however, everything changed. From the moment he invited me into the group conversation at JFK to his hilarious imitation of the statues in the New Delhi immigration line, that famous Drbal charm began to win over my heart. We spent the next three weeks talking, laughing, getting accidentally drunk while watching the National Championship at 7 in the morning (roll tide) and showing a blatant disregard for the rules at an Indian fort. We had become incredibly close friends and toward the end of the trip, thanks to a couple hard Arnold Palmer's and a "haunted" Indian castle, our friendship turned into a romance. We returned to Elon after the trip knowing full well that Drew would be graduating that May, but he made me happier than I ever imagined possible and I was willing to work to make our relationship last. Fast forward four and a half years through a tearful good bye, a giddy reunion, two internships, five more countries visited, two moves up and down the Eastern Seaboard and the adoption of a furry child, and I could not be more excited to marry the man of my dreams. He's everything I've ever dreamed of and I cannot wait to spend forever by his side.