Mark and I first crossed paths in a chemistry seminar at Western New England University in 2021. It was the first day of class, and as usual, I was running a little late. I hurried into the room and grabbed the first available seat I could find, which just so happened to be right next to Mark. We talked here and there, but it wasn't until he "coincidentally" started doing his laundry on the same nights that I was working in the Evergreen residence office, that we really began to talk. We would talk to each other for hours, at first just about classwork but gradually, our conversations shifted to our interests, our family life, and our values. Two things really took me by surprise during our first few conversations: how much we had in common, and how quickly time seemed to fly when we were together. On Valentine's Day in 2022, Mark came into my office with a rose and FINALLY asked me out on a date. Our first date was a few days later at Prodigy Minigolf and Gameroom, where we had the time of our lives! We became official and continued to go on dates throughout the rest of the semester. About halfway through the semester, Mark got accepted into the University of Utah to complete a PhD in chemistry. While the distance was daunting, we both knew what we had was special and that we could make it work. After six months of long distance from Massachusetts to Utah, I decided to move to Salt Lake City so that we could be together. Mark flew back to Massachusetts and then we set off on our second cross country road trip together! With both of us living in Salt Lake City, we travelled the West as much as we could, making incredible memories along the way. Some of our favorite stops included: Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Arches National Park, Seattle, Alaska, Olympic National Park, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Eventually, we decided to adopt a dog from the local shelter and named him Koda-our little adventure buddy! On April 7th, 2024 (after living together in Salt Lake City for fourteen months), we went to the State Capitol around sunset, following dinner at our favorite restaurant Cafe Molise. Completely surprising me, Mark asked me to marry him and of course I said yes! A couple of months later, we set our wedding date and are both SO excited to start the next chapter of our lives together!