It all started with an Instagram story. Cole was scrolling one day and saw Sydney in a post from a mutual friend (Katy Harrington). He couldn't help but toss her friend one burning question: "Who's that on the left?" Curiosity quickly turned into a connection. Sydney did a little detective work and realized they had a shared link—her brother’s girlfriend (now sister-in-law!), Courtney. Before long, messages were flying back and forth, and what began as a casual chat turned into something much, much more. The real spark happened when they both came home to the Bay Area for the holidays—Sydney from New York and Cole from Austin. They decided to meet up, and one date quickly turned into five, including breakfast on Christmas Eve! It was clear something special was brewing, but with two different cities waiting, they weren't sure what would happen next. They kept in touch, and by April, Cole decided to take a big leap, hopping on a flight to visit Sydney in New York for a week. Either he was an amazing guest or Sydney was an amazing host, because it turned out that the risk paid off. From then on, they made long-distance love look easy, constantly flying between New York, Austin, and the Bay Area every couple of weeks. Having both of their families in the East Bay made every holiday reunion extra sweet. After a year and a half of flights, FaceTimes, and reunions, they took another big step and moved to Seattle together—their first shared home! Surrounded by some of their best friends from UW and WSU, it was a chapter filled with memories, laughter, and, well, a lot of rain and grey. Ten months later, they found themselves back in the Bay Area, close to both of their families who’d been cheering them on since the start. And then, on a perfect summer day in August, Cole got down on one knee in Lake Tahoe, where the start of their next chapter officially began.