April & Andrew

a Greene County, VA Engagement Session

April Maura Foley was born in 1997 in the small town of Bennington, VT. She grew up surrounded by lots of animals, including chickens, goats, horses, cats and dogs which fueled a genuine love of the outdoors. Growing up, a Foley Family Vacation was known to involve traveling to national parks, for April, 27 of the 59 to be exact!

Andrew Bryan Gamma born in ‘96 grew up in Charlottesville, VA as what you may call a “gym rat”. His parents owned a gymnastics gym which spurred a love in him making the gym feel a lot like home as well! When Andrew wasn’t competing himself, he and his brother could often be found in the stands while Mom & Dad were coaching.

Fast forward to January 2020 & a lovely hike in Hobbs State Park where the two are found standing on a picturesque rock positioned over Beaver Lake. It was here that Andrew got down on one knee…

HOW THEY MET

April & Andrew met in 2015 at Virginia Tech first semester of Freshman year. It was VTs gymnastics club team that brought them together (and mutual friend Dom ((thanks Dom!)). Both will admit it didn’t take long for them to realize how special the other was, but April was still a bit shy. While April may have been the shy one, as the relationship continued to grow, April was the first to show interest in Andrew! They officially started dating second semester of Freshman year and their connection only flourished from there.

They bonded over mutual love of adventurous activities such as rock climbing, hiking, and a general enjoyment of being outdoors. Not to mention Andrew’s love of cooking certainly didn’t hurt! April’s favorite food to this day is anything Andrew makes with his homemade tomato sauce!

THE PROPOSAL

The Arkansas morning, home to Andrew, started like any other, but it was their last full day together of April’s winter break before she had to head back to school. Ring in possession, Andrew attempted to be as sneaky and sly as he could, but April knew something was up! Still, they headed out to enjoy their day together starting with the rock climbing gym. Next up was a delicious lunch at a fantastic Indian restaurant before heading out on a hike. They hiked down to a point on Beaver Lake that looked out over the winter water & Andrew knew this would be the place. He fumbled around in his pocket realizing the ring had become loose from its box but managed to seize it, he got down on one knee and asked April that fateful question, to which she answered “yes”.