Our story began in 2019, although neither of us knew then exactly where it would lead.

We met in Birmingham, exchanged Snapchats and stories, and eventually went on our first date at Chuy’s. By the end of it, we decided we were probably better suited as friends. For a while, that seemed to be where our story would remain.

We stayed loosely in touch, our lives continuing along their separate paths, until we found our way back to one another in late 2020.

This time, something was different.

Almost immediately, we learned what it meant to choose one another across distance. Hannah was at UAB in Birmingham, while Mikhaila was at Auburn.

When we both graduated in May 2022, life did not bring us to the same city just yet. Mikhaila moved to Augusta to begin her career with Ajax Building, while Hannah remained in Birmingham working in clinical research at UAB.

For the next several years, our relationship was measured in long drives, weekends together, and goodbyes that always seemed to come too quickly. Mikhaila made the trip from Augusta to Birmingham whenever she could, and when Hannah accepted a remote position with IQVIA in 2023, we were finally able to spend extended periods of time together in Augusta.

The Easiest Yes

Less than two months later, on Christmas Eve, we took another leap and placed an offer on our first home together in Evans, Georgia.

We closed on January 30, 2026, officially bringing four and a half years of long-distance love to an end.

And, as if the beginning of this new chapter needed one final touch, it snowed on our very first day as homeowners.