How We Met: Our Story and How It Changed Us

Our story is a modern romance that began when Bryan slid into my Instagram DMs.

But a little background first: I’d actually heard about Bryan from my mom. She told me he was the son of a good friend, had a strong faith, ran track and cross country at UVA, raced as a professional cyclist, and liked to cook. It sounded like an intriguing mix. My mom also mentioned he was five years older and lived in Virginia, so I assumed we’d never meet.

A few times of hearing about him made me curious enough to look him up, and to my surprise Bryan was already following me. I figured someone had mentioned me to him, too—thanks, Bryan’s mom—and I followed back. That was the extent of it at the time.

A few weeks later, Bryan sent a witty message and asked about hanging out in Raleigh when he was in town. We met briefly—definitely not a date—and he reached out again on a later visit but we couldn’t make plans. We kept following each other and I watched his posts about bike races and cooking. A few months on, I messaged to see if he wanted to hang out over Thanksgiving break. For our first real date he planned a morning of rock climbing and even brought homemade kombucha.

My first impressions: thoughtful, cute, makes kombucha, and plans great outings. Also, he shaves his legs and frequently wears cycling spandex—quirks that made him memorable.

Just days later we went for a jog and talked so much we accidentally ran ten miles. I later learned he was easing back into running after an injury and had only planned three miles that day. We wondered how it would work long-distance—he lived 3.5 hours away—but after a fantastic third date we started talking every day.

Not long after, Bryan came to visit me in Winston-Salem and planned to crash with a friend for one night. That one night turned into three: we slept 12 total hours across those nights and stayed up endlessly talking. We connected over faith, being active, hospitality, caring for others, travel, running, coffee, and great food.

A week later we made it official and spent the next year and a half driving between Winston-Salem, NC and Charlottesville, VA. Today Bryan is my favorite travel companion, my go-to fix-it person, running buddy, executor of ideas, spreadsheet whiz, calm in a crisis, and my best friend.

In 2017 my parents moved to Raleigh and, with my sister’s dating life settled, my mom started paying more attention to mine. She frequently mentioned girls she thought I’d like, and eventually she told me about Olivia—someone with similar interests in cooking, running, and faith. My mom encouraged the idea of connecting us, and while I couldn’t object, my first outreach was a quick DM suggesting ice cream while I was in town. She was leaving on a trip and couldn’t make it that time.

Despite that miss, our moms continued their quiet matchmaking. Through a roundabout series of events, our families ended up together for ice cream—our dads even paid for our treats, which wasn’t the smooth setup I’d imagined. I don’t remember many details from that outing besides our dads steering the conversation. On the car ride home both moms asked what we thought, and our answers were basically, “Not sure, but his/her dad seemed nice.”

After that we exchanged a few Instagram messages, and later, while I was home for Thanksgiving, Olivia asked if I was still interested in hanging out and promised no parents would come. Always up for an adventure while home, I said yes.

We spent a day rock climbing and later did a long run together in Umstead State Park. From that point, things clicked.

Since then, life with Olivia has been a joy. We’ve taken spontaneous trips to visit family, she’s helped me improve my cooking photos for Instagram, and we’ve enjoyed countless coffee dates. She’s also been game for adventure—whether that means a nature walk that turns into an intense hike or trying sports that involve hurtling downhill around trees.

Olivia embraces every challenge with an up-for-anything spirit that matches her beauty, devotion to Jesus and people, joy in hosting and serving, contagious happiness, impressive kitchen skills, and a frustratingly excellent memory. I’m excited for all the adventures ahead with her.