It’s a small world out there, but I never stop getting a kick out of meeting people from southwestern PA. Julie and Matt are from a small town a little south of Johnstown, where I spent a semester at UPJ. They went to colleges in the area that I’m familiar with, and we all were able to equally lament about scraping the ice from our cars in the morning (which, cruelly enough, Geoff and I had to do this morning in North Carolina before we went to the gym). Matt was also an education major (southwestern PA produces a lot of stellar teachers) and he likewise moved south to teach down here. Julie and Matt, in addition to having this eerily similar background to me, also have two cats and enjoy staying at home (SAME). Their cats’ names are Binx and Drogo and there was a lot of debate at the shoot as to who is the better behaved cat. They’ve been living down in NC for 4 years and are getting married up in PA next summer. And this PA girl is very happy for these fellow PA folks, and so glad I got to inject a little bit of “yinz” into their engagement session in Durham. ;)
Ben grew up in Indiana and came to North Carolina for college but ended up in New York City, NY while Amy grew up in Raleigh but went to college in Ithica and winded up in New York City, NY, only to come back to Durham for their engagement session at Duke University. GOT IT? Good! :D
So both Amy and Ben were in the same states at kind of roughly the same time periods but nothing ever really overlapped. Amy was introduced to Ben through a cleverly-disguised blind date set up by their mutual friends while she was visiting New York City (Ben already lived there at this point). They spoke to each other online for a few months while Amy was finishing up school/cleverly devising a way to get back to New York City while in Ithica. She visited him often, one thing led to another, etc., and it all accumulates into a very happy wedding this September at Temple Beth and 1705 Prime in Raleigh! For now they remain happily situated in New York where Ben works for a software company and Amy is a physical therapist.
So why Duke University? Ben went to college at Duke and they dig the architecture and the general space (it also reminds Amy of Cornell, where she went to school). And I was sooo super happy and delighted that parts of the campus actually had flowers and leaves and things that were bright and happy! It’s kind of hit or miss around in the area right now as to whether or not all of the grass is completely dead or bright green. :) Anyway – I had a great time with these two nice and fun and adorable people and look forward to their triumphant return to North Carolina in September!