Dan and Carly each spent years of their lives walking the halls of Homewood-Flossmoor High School. Carly as a student in her teenage years and Dan as a teacher. But these were in two totally separate phases of their lives (nothing scandalous here)! Dan and Carly made this connection when a dating app intervened, and they had their first date at a restaurant called The Perch. Dan may have lied about his height (by an inch) and Carly may have worn platform heels, but all they both really remember about the night was a conversation so connected and easy that before they knew it…the bar was closing.

A connection was building, one in which tornados and mountains could not keep apart.

On their second date, with tornados making their way across Chicagoland, Carly’s family’s incessant texting about the storm had her worried about her dog Jane (Dan thought she was trying to get out of their date). After the third date, Dan went on a two-week trip to hike the French Alps and gave Carly his Instagram handle to follow his adventures (she thought he was blowing her off).

The truth was Dan could not stop thinking about the girl he had met back home.

Weeks later, Carly sent an impulsive text from a boat that led to an invite to a wedding. Dan immediately said yes. And then the following weekend he met Carly’s entire family. Was it too soon? Up for debate.

At the wedding, Dan impressed Carly with his dance moves, and it all felt so easy. They couldn’t believe how easy it felt.

From ghost tours in Savannah to hiking secret beaches in Oregon to spending 50+ hours surviving on licorice on a road trip driving up Highway 1, Carly and Dan, still today, feel like it’s just so easy.

While life isn’t always easy, they know that by having the other’s hand to hold throughout the ups and downs will make it just that much easier.

(*Update: Dan is a proud stepdad to Jane.)