Like many millennials, our story begins with a "swipe" or a "like," or whatever you do to get someone's attention on Hinge these days. Fortunately for us, we had each other's without much of your typical, strained dating app banter. But possibly due to years of dating app fatigue, our digital courtship was short. Since neither of us were cruising for coronavirus over a drink someplace in Nashville, the obvious option was something we quickly knew we had in common: the love of a good hike. Josh suggested Percy Warner Park, where he’d been hiking throughout the COVID summer, and not being too presumptuous, asked Stephanie whether she preferred a mild two-miler or was game for a strenuous five-mile workout. A seasoned camp counselor, Stephanie with no hesitation opted for the latter, and came prepared with her high-top hiking boots—and a taser. After five sweaty miles of bliss on the Mossy Ridge Trail, and a prompt second date two days later, the rest was history. There were date nights, movie nights, class in person, class on Zoom, birthdays, studying, lots of home cooking, many more hikes at Percy Warner, holidays and family introductions (who remembers Hard Candy Christmas?), more studying, two months of long distance (this was very hard on Josh—he was in Puerto Rico the whole time), thousands of miles in the Subaru, and in 2022, graduation ceremonies and the question of, “so, what are we going to do now?” To know Josh is to know his passion for the US Senate, so when the Parliamentarian’s office asked him to return for a clerkship, it was a no brainer. Stephanie, having lived with Josh through his interminable state of bar exam doom-and-gloom, was then well on her way to becoming a talented therapist after earning a Master’s in mental health counseling, and she decided to move to DC with Josh and learn about the Senate’s… shall we say unusual… sense of work-life balance. As we started packing for the move, Stephanie gave Josh the engagement ring that belonged to her late mother, Susan. Transitioning to life in DC was a challenge in ways we neither anticipated nor desired, yet in ways that only drew us closer. Stephanie found her professional home at The Center for Family Well Being, a family therapy practice in DC that focuses on the kind of holistic wellness Stephanie practices in her own life and that Josh desperately needs. Soon it was 2023, and during Masters week, Josh found a quiet moment with Stephanie’s dad, Steve, in the barn at Rust Branch Lane and asked him for permission to marry Stephanie. Steve said yes, and the next week Josh took Susan’s ring to the shop. The 2023 Masters Tournament marked another special moment in our story. On Saturday, April 8, 2023, the third day of the tournament, a precious, black and white miniature Australian Labradoodle was born in South Carolina. Obviously, we fell in love with Miss Flamingo as soon as we saw her, and when she was ours we named her Percy, after the park where our story started. Percy came home with us in June, and everything we were told about raising a puppy has been 110% true. We can’t wait for everyone to see Percy at the wedding. After an insane month of juggling our jobs with puppy Percy, we needed a break. For most of his life, Josh has found respite in Pacific City, Oregon, where the Moscows gather for reunions every other year. In 2021, Josh took Stephanie to Pacific City for the first time and in 2023, we returned for a family reunion over the Fourth of July holiday. On July 3, we went for a walk down the beach into Bob Straub State Park, where the Nestucca Bay empties into the Pacific. As we turned around to head back, Josh offered Stephanie a ring that was made from Susan’s. She took it, and said yes. Josh and Stephanie November 2023 Washington, DC