Like any great love story, Ingrid and Michael’s began as Peace Corps volunteers in a small Senegalese village where they spent 8 hours a day sitting on a plastic mat under a shady tree learning the dominant language in Senegal (Wolof) from their teacher Aissatou. They bonded over the simple things like balls of fried dough, bags of frozen fruit juice, entirely too much rice and fish, and their toddler-like ability to communicate with their host families. Moving to their permanent villages (roughly 300 kilometers apart), Michael knew their time together would greatly diminish so he decided, very strategically, to expand his interests into something near and dear to Ingrid’s heart: the Game of Thrones novels. This way, he would have a reason to talk to her more often as he needed her to explain what was actually happening in the books. Unbeknownst to Michael, Ingrid was thoroughly enjoying her captive audience and prolonging their calls by coming up with more topics like casting everyone they knew as characters in the series. Throughout their first year in Senegal they stayed close, but their relationship accelerated in the second year when Michael convinced Ingrid to buy a SIM card so they could message via smart phone instead of T9 texting one another from their Nokia brick phones. Instead of only seeing each other in passing at group events, they finally took a leap of faith to go on a romantic getaway to the mangroves and their love has never stopped growing since. What started as a friendship by circumstance, turned into a supportive relationship built on respect and adoration. Michael and Ingrid are thrilled to be joined by their family and friends to celebrate this exciting next chapter while saying thank you to all who have been a part of shaping them into the people they are and the family they’ll be. ❤️