It all started when they coincidentally ran into each other on their college campus during finals week in December. Annika embarrassingly had McDonald's chicken nuggets in her hands to share for "cultural food day." Thankfully, that didn't scare Michael away. On the contrary, it was a perfect opportunity for him to proudly share pictures of his family's annual tamale party. The conversation had to be cut short for class, but not before Michael offered to drop some tamales off at her apartment that night! So that evening, Michael came over with a bag labeled "For Annika and Friends" filled with delicious tamales. He came in, fixed Annika a plate, and they instantly hit it off. They had a mutual friend who had been trying to set them up for weeks but failed to mention that they lived in the same city. To their shock, they both hinted that they didn't have any big plans and would conveniently be home all Christmas break. They spent their first date ice-skating and walking around the Mission Inn, and from then on, they've been inseparable.