Our Story
First Date
NOAH:
Our first date was January 16, 2016. MLK weekend was the first time we would both be in Atlanta, after maintaining a texting relationship for almost a month.
I really felt like I had really found someone special, so I tried to plan a suitable first date that would be nice — yet casual. Going into the date, we had agreed on three rules:
Lauren would drive herself; I wasn’t allowed to pick her up.
If at any point during the date we felt like it wasn’t meant to be, we would part ways with no hard feelings.
Lauren doesn’t kiss on the first date.
Our first stop was the Georgia Aquarium, one of my favorite places in Atlanta. The highlight of our time at the aquarium was the Ocean Voyager tank, watching the whale sharks and just talking — getting to know each other and laughing together while people-watching. It was our first date, and we’d only just started talking a few weeks ago, but it felt like I could’ve sat forever in that spot, just enjoying her company and companionship.
After the aquarium, I took Lauren to a sushi restaurant in West Midtown (I was allowed to drive her then). After sushi, I didn’t want the date to end. I felt like if we said goodbye, we’d be losing an opportunity to really chase something special.
So we ended the date at our unplanned third stop of the night, Cafe Intermezzo in Midtown. I’ll never forget the hours we spent there, drinking coffee and chatting until the cafe closed at 2 AM. At that table, we weren’t just two people on their first date. We were a couple getting to know each other for the first time. By the end of our 11-hour first date, it felt like we already knew we were going to be together.
Beginnings
Lauren:
Once we had determined that we were pursuing this for real, we just had to figure out how. At the time, I was in my first year of optometry school in Birmingham and Noah was plugging away at his first year of adult work stuff in Atlanta. At 2.5 hours between the cities, we weren’t quite a long-distance relationship but perhaps a mid-distance one. We spent a lot of time on the road, driving back and forth pretty much almost every weekend. And as for the weekdays, thank god for Google Chat. GChat was the best since it was easily passable as actual work/studying/taking notes in lectures. How people maintained long-ish distance relationships before instant messaging is utterly beyond me.
Given this distance, we also stayed connected by going on little trips. During that first year of our relationship, we were able to go on a few adventures including:
Final Four / Houston, TX: It was the year Carolina trounced Syracuse — only to later lose to Villanova in the championship game, but oh well. It had always been a dream of mine to go to the Final Four. The trip was only about 24 hours in its entirety, meaning it consisted of a lot of adrenaline and very little sleep. I had a cardiology exam the day after, so… y’all can guess how that went. Either way, totally worth it.
Meeting Noah’s Family / New Orleans, LA: A whole 3 months into our relationship, I met Noah’s family at his cousin’s wedding. The first time he asked me to come to this wedding I thought he was joking and turned him down. Turns out that he wasn’t joking, and he asked me again a week later. I was initially terrified to meet his family as some random chick that’s only been around for a couple months. These worries ended up being completely unfounded. We had an amazing time over lots of good food and drinks.
Meeting My Family / LaGrange, GA: This is where I introduced Noah to my family. And consistent with our “all in” relationship philosophy, he pretty much got to meet everyone at once. He won over the family with his goofy sense of humor, F150 (the only acceptable truck as far as my family is concerned), and Florida State football knowledge. Ever since this trip back in 2016, my grandparents have adored Noah. The kicker is that my family is 10X more excited to see him than they are me anytime we roll around.
First Vacation / Puerto Rico: This was the trip where we realized that we had the same vacation style: lots of eating, sleeping, and relaxing — with a little sprinkling of actually doing stuff. I can still feel the wave of relief from when he agreed that he also didn’t want to do crazy jungle tours starting at 5:30 am in the morning.
However, for every adventure we went on together, we still had to say painful goodbyes in the end. Regardless of how much fun we were having together, the fact that we would have to separate at the end always loomed over us.
Sweet Home Alabama
NOAH:
Never in my life did I think I would be moving to Alabama.
Lauren and I began our relationship long-distance, traveling up and down I-20 to see each other on the weekends. We’d even cart Mikey between our apartments so he could spend time with Lauren, especially when I was traveling for work. It was a lot of work traveling back and forth, but we knew we had something special. It was worth the drive. I don’t think we ever seriously thought about living together, since I would be hard-pressed to find a job in Birmingham.
After Lauren and I had been together for almost a year, I was offered a new job. Most consulting firms prefer for their consultants to be based out of major cities with large airports. Flying out of a small regional airport meant connections, meant I would have to take twice the amount of flights every week, every year. Living in Birmingham meant… I’d have to officially be an Alabaman (Roll Tide).
Living in Alabama meant I’d get to live with my girlfriend, for the first time in my life.
It was one of the easiest decisions of my life. When my new boss asked me where I was based out of, I said, “I’m out of Atlanta for now, but I’m moving to Birmingham.” He just said “OK.”
Thanks Greg.
Getting Engaged
NOAH:
I like to think our engagement was both surprising and expected. Even on our first date, Lauren and I had been discussing what a future together would look like. We had made a long-distance relationship work, moved in together, and lived together successfully (so far), so it’s natural that we had talked about getting engaged after Lauren finished optometry school. It just made sense to be engaged before moving off to start our post-school lives together, and buying a place together.
However, I think the timing was a surprise to Lauren. Early summer of 2018, after we had lived together for more than 2 years, Lauren had to spend 6 weeks in Atlanta for a rotational program. I remember when we moved her into her rental, and had our last meal together for the foreseeable future, how difficult it was to part. Both of us were surprised and a little embarrassed at how emotional it was saying goodbye, if even for a week or two. The thought of being apart and not living together was overwhelming.
So that’s a little gross, but it was in the car, driving back to Birmingham, that I made up my mind. We had discussed potentially getting engaged in 2019, after she graduated and found a job, but I didn’t want to wait. Lauren and I have always plunged headfirst into our relationship, and I had no reason to regret that attitude. I called my parents that very same day to let them know I had decided. It was time to commit.
After speaking with Lauren’s dad and her grandparents, I had to come up with a plan to propose. I chose not to do it at a fancy restaurant, or in a park, or by the beach. To me, that didn’t really capture the spirit of our relationship, it didn’t capture the nature of our future together. After chatting with friends and family (on both sides), I chose to propose to Lauren in LaGrange, GA, the town she spent so much of her childhood growing up in. On top of that, I chose to do it right at Grandma and Grandpa Walls’ house, a house I knew carried very important memories and emotions for Lauren. Proposing to Lauren in LaGrange, right outside of the grandparents’ house, felt like it captured the true spirit of our relationship. Two of the most important principles in our relationship were present at our engagement: family and home.
Home Sweet Home
LAUREN:
After being in school the near-entirety of one’s life, it’s really hard to decide what to do afterwards. Freedom is a funny thing like that. Plus, this was the first decision that would kick off the beginning of our true adult life: where we should start to put down roots.
The two main contenders were Atlanta and Raleigh. We eventually decided on Raleigh. I went to undergrad at UNC and fell in love with this area. It’s lively and diverse with lots of charm. Plus, it’s the Southern hotspot for science and tech nerds. And let’s be honest, those are probably our people.
This past August, we bought our first home. And now a few months later, we’re still not fully unpacked nor is the house fully set-up. But we plan on getting there one of these days. Here’s a photo on the top to show that I’ve tried.