“As You Wish”

-Our Love Story

We basically fell in love to The Princess Bride.

It was December 31st, 2009. The clock struck midnight, and Chris took a chance, leaning in to kiss Michelle.

“Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five that were rated the most passionate,

the most pure. This one left them all behind.”

-Grandpa

We met in September 2009 as veterinary technicians at Town & Country Veterinarians in Gainesville, Florida. Chris had been working there as a vet tech for several years, with the intent of attending the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary medicine after getting a few years of experience. Becoming a zoo veterinarian was his goal, after an initial career in biomedical research wasn’t fulfilling enough for him long-term. Michelle had just completed her Master’s Degree and submitted her VMCAS application to several vet schools across the country. She was waiting to hear if she would be accepted and where she might be heading for the next four years.

Chris was smitten immediately. Michelle, not so much. However, after a few short months of working together, there was definitely something there, something smoldering. We made plans to hang out on New Year’s Eve 2009/10 and introduce our two dogs: Nalani- Michelle’s 6 year old heeler/pit mix, and Anika- Chris’ 9 month old German Shepherd. A few of our friends were also wanting to hang out, but for some reason we both wanted it to be just the two of us. Introductions with Nalani and Anika went well, and the date was fantastic (see kiss description above). We set off both some literal and figurative fireworks, if you will. Happy New Year!

Several months of dating behind the scenes ensued. Many hours were spent sitting in Chris’ pickup truck in the Publix parking lot after work before heading home. We remained very professional at work and no one had a clue! Somewhere in the first few months we watched the Princess Bride together for the first time. It had always been one of Chris’ favorites (obviously if you know his sense of humor) and Michelle loved it as well. Some of our early dates were spent lounging in Chris’ backyard reading the book to each other out loud. We also had lots of romantic movies nights snuggling on the couch and cooking dinners together, something we greatly enjoy to this day.

Michelle soon found out she had been accepted to vet school at UF in Gainesville! We could not have been more excited that she would stay in town for the next four years. After Michelle left the clinic and started school, we broke the news to everyone. They were all quite surprised and very happy for us.

Early on in vet school, Michelle fostered a litter of four 3-day old kittens. Enter “Little Man,” the runt of the litter, who became a foster failure and she renamed “Anconeus” after the smallest muscle in the forearm. She happened to be dissecting this muscle when she decided to keep him. (So things go when you are taking anatomy and a science nerd.) Michelle was adorably stressed out about her decision to keep Anconeus, however. You see, Chris is allergic to cats. She already knew.

“This is true love. You think this happens every day?”

-Westley

In the fall, Chris completed his VMCAS application to vet school. Singular. Florida or bust. Motivation is a beautiful thing!

In December Chris added Steeler (American Staffordshire Terrier) to his extensive zoo of pets (Anika the German Shepherd, 4 Burmese Pythons, 2 Ball Pythons, 2 Corn Snakes and about 50 Boa Constrictors). Anika had severe separation anxiety and had already broken out of several crates and redecorated the house a few times while he was at work. She desperately needed a friend. Steeler fit right in, was perfect for Anika and turned out to be Chris’ heart dog.

Interviews went very well and Chris was accepted to UFCVM, just one year behind Michelle!

The next few years were a blur of lectures, labs, club meetings, socials, and tests. We spent just about all our “free time” together- hanging out at each other’s place, hiking at Payne’s Prairie, and strolling the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.

In January of 2013, Chris adopted two hatchling Leopard Tortoises from the Zoo Med Department. Because if there’s anything a busy veterinary student with a small zoo needs, it’s a pair of the fourth largest tortoise species on the planet. Dang they are cute hatchlings though, seriously.

May 10, 2013 was a big day for us. Chris’ family came out to visit for his white coat ceremony. This is a right of passage for medical/veterinary students where we transition from our preclinical studies to clinical practice. The start of “learning how to doctor,” if you will. Before the ceremony, Chris suggested a visit to the butterfly gardens at the museum next door. Just a quick stroll with a couple friends to decompress. At a picturesque little bridge in the middle of the exhibit, he got down on one knee and proposed. She said yes!

“Inconceiveable!”

-Vizzini

The whirlwind life of our young couple in love continued for the next year. Chris started clinics and Michelle went back in the classroom for advanced didactics. Then we flip-flopped and Michelle finished up her training in the clinics with Chris back in the classroom. Michelle somehow managed to keep her sanity (mostly) finishing up her clinical training while wedding planning. May/June of 2014 was just bonkers. May 24th, Michelle graduated with her DVM. One week to the day later, we got married! It was a beautiful day with family and friends, everything we could have wished for. We even had a few minutes of rain before the ceremony for good luck.

“They’re kissing again. Do we have to read the kissing parts?”

-Grandson

The next morning we left for our one-week honeymoon in Costa Rica. We had a wonderful time- Costa Rica is such a charming, beautiful country. Highlights included beautiful beaches, Chris’ first time on horseback, discovery of Michelle’s intense fear of in-flight turbulence, great food, and oodles of wildlife!

One week was not enough. But alas, Chris had to get back to school and Michelle had a new job as a small animal veterinarian to start. We moved Michelle into Chris’ house in Archer, just outside of Gainesville. The very next week, Chris left for a month-long externship at the Dallas Zoo. Poor Michelle had a crash-course on taking care of the reptile zoo, Anconeus and the three dogs all the while starting her new job.

Our first year of married life is all a blur. Michelle worked crazy, stressful hours. Chris spent long days on the clinic floor and countless hours studying for exams and the NAVLE (national boards). We still managed to get out to a few of our favorite local haunts: La Chua trail, Saint Augustine, and Universal Studios. We spent our first anniversary in Cedar Key on the gulf coast sea kayaking and exploring.

Then came the first big challenge of our young marriage. In February, Chris got the news that he had matched to his internship of choice: a small animal and exotics internship in Tucson, AZ. This is pretty much the first required step in becoming a zoo veterinarian. We decided he would take the boas with him, but the Burmese Pythons legally had to stay in Florida with Michelle. So in June, we packed up and set out on a cross-country adventure to Tucson. We had 32 snakes in boxes in the backseat and a small U-Haul trailer pulled behind the Charger with Chris’ stuff. That was the start of our year apart.

“We’ll never survive.”

“Nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one ever has.”

-Buttercup & Westley

The year was long, exhausting, exciting, miserable, wonderful, lonely and important for where we are today. Michelle was a saint, taking care of the tortoises, pythons, dogs and cat while working an exhausting, stressful job. Chris was working an ungodly number of hours per week, trying to soak up every last bit of knowledge/experience he could. We would often go several days without being able to talk, but tried our hardest to have at least a quick call as one of us was falling asleep (more than a few times one of us passed out during the call). Michelle was able to come to visit a few times and Chris finagled going home to Florida over Christmas for a few days.

It was an exceptionally rough year, but all our hard work, determination and loneliness paid off. Chris had grown to love his hospital and the challenge of small animal clinical practice with a high exotics caseload. The leadership team had taken notice and halfway through the year in December, they asked him to join the clinic as an associate after completing his internship. Well this was not in the plans. During the visit over Christmas, we discussed the possibility of him staying on and Michelle moving to Arizona. Talk about scary. Chris was used to moving around a lot, having lived in Michigan, North Carolina, and Oregon growing up. A few years after college he moved to Florida on his own in late 2003 to pursue veterinary medicine. Michelle, however, had never lived further than a 3 hour drive from her whole extended family. The vast majority of this time was in Florida (excepting about 3 years in South Carolina when she was very young). She was miserable at her current job, but the prospect of moving over 2000 miles away was harrowing. The concession, however, was that Chris was considering giving up his pursuit of a career as a zoo vet (which would necessitate another year as a specialty intern, then a 3-4 year residency, then finding a zoo to hire him). That path had several more years of training, insane hours with little free time, and several more moves to parts unknown. It was certainly doable, and we had both agreed when we got married that it was our potential plan. But at 38 years old, having spent more time apart than together during our first 2 years of marriage, more than ever, Westley needed his Buttercup.

Some time in early 2016, we made the decision. Michelle would move to Arizona and we would finally start the next chapter in our lives and careers TOGETHER. And here we are, nearly 9 years later. We celebrated our 10-year anniversary last year! We’ve had some wonderful experiences and travels together (see our “Trip Reports” page for pics/details!), we’ve had fantastic highlights and some devastatingly low lows. We’ve suffered through the heartbreak and realization that a big part of our plans for our life together isn’t going to happen. We bought a beautiful house that we both love. 2020 brought the challenge of living through a global pandemic together:

“Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid or something like that?”

“Oh no, it’s just that they’re terribly comfortable.

I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.”

-Fezzik & The Man in Black

We’ve traveled to four countries on three continents (3 down, 4 to go!). We tragically lost all three of our “first family” dogs to different cancers. We’ve welcomed two new dogs (Thorin and Cambria) to our crazy little life. In 2021, after over 10 years together we finally discovered a hobby that we both enjoy and has brought us closer together- birding and nature photography. It’s been the perfect combination of outdoor time, travel, nature and a creative outlet.

Over the years, Chris introduced Michelle to the wonderful worlds of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Heavy Metal music. Michelle opened Chris’ eyes (and stomach) to the delights of Latin food, and the romance of cooking together. It’s been quite the ride and we could never have anticipated how any of this would play out when we met in 2009.

Last month we celebrated 15 years together. It’s absolutely crazy how time flies and it will continue to get even faster. But through it all, no matter what life throws at us, we’ll get through it together.

“And wuv, twoo wuv, will fowwow you fowevah.”

-The Clergyman

For the last few years, every New Year’s Eve our tradition is to celebrate one more year exploring the world together. We watch “The Big Year,” honoring the hobby that brought us closer as a couple, and of course “The Princess Bride,” revisiting the movie that helped us fall in love.

-Chris and Michelle, February 2025