We met in September of 2016 while both interning at nonprofit in Dupont Circle . It was Laura's first day on the job, and Alex helped to show her the ropes. We soon realized that we had mutual close friends at GW. Months pass. Our camaraderie at work evolved into friendship outside of work. By September of 2017, Laura began to see Alex in a new light. Over the next two months, Laura used any excuse to spend time with Alex. They started to hang out together one-on-one-- going to happy hours and grabbing baos at Copycat on H. Street. It wasn't until the week before Thanksgiving (while watching Frasier together) that they shared their first kiss. After the Thanksgiving holidays, Alex and Laura had many romantic Christmas-time dates; walking in the snow through LeDroit Park, seeing the lights in City Center, and grabbing hot chocolate at Miracle on 7th St. On January 1, 2018 we officially began dating. Since then, we have traveled to four countries on three continents, adopted a cat together, survived a pandemic together, and eaten a lot of good food. On April 19, 2021, Alex packed a romantic picnic with a bouquet of dried lavender and called a Lyft to the National Arboretum. We found a spot to sit next to the old Capitol columns and Alex kneeled to ask Laura to marry him. Our partnership feels like a dream come true and we are excited to celebrate our love in July of 2022.