Planning: Blue Poppy Events

Our Story!!

Thomas' Version of Our Story

I met Lauren in the summer of 2018 when she came for a few weeks before starting grad school at Georgia Tech/Emory to see what the Botchwey lab was like. On the first day I met her, we went out to lunch where I asked her deep questions like “what kind of music do you listen to” and then to the microscope room for quite a few hours. I’m not sure how many people that have met for the first time go to a small and dark room with nothing else to do but talk… in this case for 4+ hours. We pretty much immediately became best friends after that and spent almost every night that summer going out and telling each other everything. I realized very quickly that I wanted to date Lauren and be more than just friends, but little did I know that I was going to have to be quite persistent about it.

For the next what felt like year I embarked on the journey of convincing Lauren to date me. My strategy involved sending her articles talking about how PhD students or work colleagues dating each other is okay (and even a positive thing) and bringing up the topic every other day. At this point you may be thinking: “what was taking Lauren so long!?” Have no fear, because my strategy worked even better than I could have imagined. Picture this scene as the moment I finally knew for sure that we would be together forever. We had not seen each other for weeks over Christmas. We both went back to Atlanta for New Years. We planned to pregame at my apartment before the party, so I went downstairs to bring Lauren up to the apartment. Lauren sees me from across the parking lot and STARTS RUNNING towards me. Jumps into my arms to hug me. Should this be made into a movie!? Feel free to fact check this with real first-hand witness Jason Wan.

Fast forward a few years of adventures, laughter, and more happiness than I could have ever imagined - she said yes to my proposal at the top of a cold, windy, and strenuous hike. The moment she leapt into my arms 4 years ago she made me the luckiest person in the world. I am never letting go and could not be more excited for a lifetime of adventures together. Our life as husband and wife will start in Belgium and who knows where it will take us from there, but as long as I’m by your side, nothing else matters

Lauren's Version of Our Story

Thomas and I first met during the summer of 2018 when I moved to Atlanta to begin grad school at Georgia Tech/Emory. To get a head-start on deciding which lab I would ultimately join, I opted to begin working in the Botchwey Lab (shoutout to the Botchwey Lab!) early, before the start of the school year. During these first few weeks, Thomas was appointed as my mentor/recruiter for the laboratory. As the story goes, he was such an A+ recruiter that I ended up joining the lab permanently. I cannot definitively tell you that Thomas is the reason for this. In fact, while teaching me how to use the microscope (it took 5 hours because he forgot an important step), Thomas (a loyal Vikings fan) replayed the Minneapolis Miracle 48042 times once discovering I was a Saints fan. I think the real miracle is that I ended up joining the lab despite this cruelty.

However, I must admit that we very quickly became best friends. Late night bar hopping on electric scooters (during the work week), watching football games, and endless concerts became our 'thing.' Fast forward to New Years Eve 2018-2019. By this point, Thomas had been trying to convince me to date him for a few months. I regularly said it wasn't a good idea. Picture this: we sat right next to each other in lab...worked on similar projects...this is 5 years of working together we're talking about... can you blame me?! I suppose all his 'colleagues can have a relationship too' arguments paid off because around 11pm on this NYE, I decided I would say 'yes' to making Thomas a very lucky man. He gave me until midnight, the start of 2019, to back out of the decision before being "stuck with him forever." As it turns out, "stuck with him forever" is a pretty darn great place to be ;) A little over 3 years later, he proposed -- and now we really are ~very happily~ stuck!! Forever grateful to have met you through this life chapter, and I look forward to the lifetime of love, adventure, and happiness that awaits us, Thomas Turner.

WEDDING PARTY

CHRISTOPHER TURNER

best man

ASHLEY HYMEL

maid of honor

PAUL TURNER

groomsman

BROOKE HYMEL

maid of honor

YOUSEF GHABOUR

groomsman

MAGGIE ARCENEAUX

bridesmaid

NICOLAS RIVAS

groomsman

VICTORIA PARRILLA-KOESTER

bridesmaid

JASON WAN

groomsman

ABBY MESSINA REED

bridesmaid

ANDREW PEARL

groomsman

ZOË MOTE

bridesmaid

LUCIANO FAGALDE

groomsman

CLAIRE MCCLAIN

bridesmaid