Todd and Alison met while teaching in Shanghai, China. On her first day after arriving in Shanghai, Alison ended up wandering the teacher dorms in search of her friend Lauren. Todd popped out of his apartment and offered to help Alison find her – which happened very quickly since it turned out he was Lauren’s neighbor! They started to date and fell in love. When Todd was accepted to a master’s program at Indiana University, they moved back to the Midwest. A year later Alison got a job in Washington, DC, and Todd moved after graduating from his program. They now live together in Washington, DC and still enjoy traveling as much as they can.

Todd proposed to Alison on her birthday in Porto, Portugal. The sun had finally broken through after days of rain, and he asked her to marry him on a balcony overlooking the river. She said yes and they celebrated with a glass of Port!