For many people, moving to Florida is a long-time dream, particularly for retirement.  But for both Maggie and I, moving to Florida was a life-changing event that happened rather quickly with little foresight.  I moved here over 10 years ago with CarMax, not knowing where it might lead, but knowing it was a big venture on my own that would be good for me to pursue.  In 2011, Maggie took the opportunity to move down and see what new things may come, and giving her the opportunity to work with two great companies with careers in animal care, Sea World and Disney.  While we both had no expectations for Florida, I would like to think that it was all part of a bigger plan that allowed us to meet.

Fast forward to October 6, 2013 as we both get ready for our first date.  Deep down, there definitely was lots of excitement.  But based on some previous experiences for each of us, we individually contained getting our hopes up in fear of disappointment yet again.  From the first moment we saw each other that night, it was literally an instant connection that only grew through the evening.  To the point that we were planning our second date before the first date was even over.  We had an amazing time and it was evident neither of us wanted to leave.  Poor Maggie had to get up for work at 5:15am the next morning, so she originally said she wanted to be home by 10:00.  She didn't wind up leaving Colonial Town Park until after midnight.  Whoops!  But she'll still admit it was worth it. ;)  The following day when she got off work at Disney, I met her there and we had our second date at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival.  Well, after an awesome first date, the second date was just as amazing, and it has only gotten better from there.  We've moved on from going around the world at Epcot to going around the world by cruise ship, having been to 5 countries so far and 3 more to come on our honeymoon.  And now, we'll have the rest of our lives to see and do anything else our hearts desire.