Adam and Michelle's Marvelous Mayhem

Michelle Renee Darrah is from the beautiful beaches of Panama City, Florida where she spent her time dancing, studying, and being a beach lifeguard. After graduation from Bay High School in the spring of 2002, she moved to Orlando to begin her college education at Rollins College as an Environmental Poltics major with a minor in dance. In the fall she was tricked into joining the Rollins College Crew team (rowing) and had a great time with it. The following spring she was inducted into Alpha Omicron Pi women's fraternity where she made several life long friends. In the fall of 2003, Michelle went "abroad" for a semester to the Biosphere 2 in Arizona. (NO Pauli Shore was not there, we did not order pizza through a window, and we were not locked in. :).  Just because it sounded like fun she studied astrophysics while at the Bio 2 and ended up loving it.  She went back to Rollins in the spring as an interem until she could transfer to a school that offered astrophysics.  Fall of 04 came and Michelle moved to Hawaii to finish her undergraduate degree. After graudating in May of '06 she moved back to Florida to join Adam as he went through flight school.  In Pensacola she works for the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition as an Associate Researcher on the Sensory Substitution for Wounded Servicemembers project. (Its science reseach, and that is as close to astrophysics as it gets in Pensacola).  =)

Adam Ziegler was born and raised in Manheim, PA. He grew up playing the trumpet and lifegaurding the local pool during the summers.  Upon graduating from high school in 1999 he went to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT.  He majored in Naval Architecture and continued to play the trumpet with the Coast Guard Academy Jazz Band.  After graduating in the Spring of 2003 he was stationed on the Polar Sea icebreaker based out of Seattle, WA. He thouroughly enjoyed his summers in beautiful Seattle, and spending his winters playing with emperor penguins in Antarctica. The fall of 2005 brought reassignement for Adam as he was moved to Washington DC to be a part of the Deep Water project at Coast Guard Headquarters.  Adam realized that a desk was not where he wanted to be decided that rescuing people was really what he wanted to do. So he applied and was accepted to flight school to be a helicopter rescure pilot for the Coast Guard.   

The summer of 2001 started it all.  Michelle was thinking she would like to attend the Coast Guard Academy, and Adam was in his 2nd Class summer.  The CGA has a program called the Academy Introductory Mission (AIM) for high schoolers between their junior and senior year who are thinking of attending the CGA. Its a week long, mini-swab summer and orientation to life at a military academy.  Alfa 2 platoon had Adam for a cadre, and Michelle for a potential cadet. Later that fall when Michelle was trying to decide whether or not to go to the CGA she began emailing her cadre (Adam) to seek opinions and advice. Long story short (or at least, short-er) Michelle decided to attend Rollins instead, but had become friends with Adam.

They kept in touch and come Spring of 2003 Michelle was there to see her brother Michael (and thus Adam) graduate from the CGA. Afterward the families of Michael, Adam and Jon all traveled to Indianappolis to watch the Indy 500. Michelle and Adam spent much of that time hanging out and before the night was over, had had their first kiss. (Michelle then proceeded to giggle like a middle schooler and trip over a couch as she went back to her room - if there had been a tree - she would have run right into it! Yet, all Adam remembered was that she left. MEN! =) . 

The two kept in touch as friends while Michelle moved around and Adam made his way from Pole to Pole.  In March of 2005, Adam's icebreaker was to make a stop in Hawaii on their way back from Antarctica.  Michelle was happy to be the tour guide for whoever made their way to the Big Island.  As things turned out, Adam was the only one from the icebreaker to head over to the Big Island. After a week of camping, cliff jumping, lava hiking, and beautiful sunsets, they were head over heels in love.