Carly and Gunnar met their junior and senior year in high school! They both showed mutual interest in each other but were at different spots in their lives. After graduating high school, Gunnar joined the army, and Carly moved to Colorado. The two lost touch between the end of 2018-mid 2020, but sporadically checked in with each other via social media.

Carly started and an Instagram live stream after a long day of covid quaranite. Gunnar was quick to join and check in with her! When Carly saw that Gunnar was watching, she asked him to message her. He then asked to call her and she agreed to a 15 minute call... 15 hours later, they hung up.

Everyday, they spent hours over FaceTime reminiscing over the missed time. 6 days following their 15 hour FaceTime, Gunnar quickly claimed Carly as "his girl."

After a month of FaceTimes and long distance, the two were reunited in Seattle. Carly flew back to Washington for Christmas with her family, and Gunnar took his holiday leave to do the same. The two spent the first 3 days of their vacation spending time with each other. Gunnar asked Carly to be his (official) girlfriend!

Carly's first (of many) trip to Virginia to visit Gunnar! She got to meet the important people in his Virginia life, and get to see where he works.

Carly flew out to Virginia to see Gunnar. He took her to the National Mall to see the cherry blossom festival she had talked about seeing with her late grandpa.

Carly accepted a teaching job in Virginia and moved all of her belongings from Colorado to her new home in Virginia.

Gunnar proposed at the waterfront!