A few years ago, Anna was deciding where to go to grad school, and ultimately chose Kent State. Michael was in the middle of a huge project for his job to grow the Jewish community at Kent and happened to find Anna's name in the system. They agreed to a zoom call and while meeting virtually for the first time, Anna and Michael quickly realized that they had a lot in common. This included being Jewish, being the same age (4 weeks apart exactly!), a shared love for musicals, swimming, travel, their love of family, and more. Though she denies it, Michael definitely caught Anna's attention at the time! Eventually, Michael gave Anna a tour of Kent. Afterwards, they both agreed that they wanted to extend the tour by going downtown to eat at Barrio, which would become their first "unofficial" date. They eventually went on their first official date to Leo's Social in downtown Cuyahoga Falls. Over the years, they've had their favorite couples things like traveling, playing board games, having Michael try Anna's delicious cooking (sometimes vice versa), doing escape rooms, and running. They went on a lot of unique dates including a Caribbean cruise and a Valentine's-themed Haunted house (which to Michael felt equally perfect). They had also ran multiple races, ranging from 5k-10ks. Michael knew he wanted to propose and thought of lots of ideas. Ultimately, his sister gave him the final idea when she said "Running is kind of your thing." Shortly after, Michael signed up with Anna for a half-marathon in NYC, which was his first and her third. Michael and Anna traveled to NYC for the weekend with 2 of their friends and had the best time. They started and ended the race together, and he proposed after the finish line with a custom-made ribbon. He had many surprises for her, including tickets to Wicked (her favorite show) followed by the best vegan restaurant in the city, and finally ended the day at the Comedy Cellar. All in all, they traveled about 40,000 steps and it was the perfect day! In the end, Michael and Anna both obtained their Master's degrees and have been happily living together for a couple of years with their pets Milo, George, and Izzy.