In the summer of 2018, Jackie was in Seattle for the first time, interning at Microsoft. She was having a great time entering into the tech world, adventuring, and making friends. One of Jackie’s intern friends asked her to come to a surprise birthday party later that day. Dressed for hiking a mountain, Jackie wasn’t sure about going out but said yes anyway. She probably would never see any of the people at the party again (wrong :)). Meanwhile, Danny had been living in Seattle since the fall of 2017 after graduating from the University of Michigan and was working at Microsoft. His job that day was to get his friend to his surprise birthday party without spoiling the surprise. Danny only knew a few people at the party but was happy to go and spend time celebrating his friend. At the party, Jackie noticed a very animated, happy, and cute guy telling a story to an enthralled group of friends. She wandered over and was soon laughing and joking with him. Danny was very glad that the cute girl seemed to be taking an interest in him. She was funny and goofy, and he was glad he’d made her acquaintance at the party. At the end of the night, they exchanged numbers. They talked all week, planned their first date, and fell in love with each other’s happiness, kindness, and sense of adventure. As the internship came to an end, Jackie returned to Georgia Tech. They began their long-distance relationship and while it wasn’t easy, they learned to communicate and make the most of the time they spent together. Jackie soon graduated and accepted a job with Microsoft in Seattle. Danny and Jackie moved in together at the start of the pandemic and spent their newly unlimited time together discovering each other’s strengths and weaknesses, cherishing the simple pleasures of life, learning to be each other’s support system, and cultivating a profound admiration for one another. Life was filled with hikes, distanced hangouts with friends and family, board games, and movie nights. In March of 2023, Danny surprised Jackie with a trip to the Big Island in Hawaii. He proposed at the end of a hike on a beautiful beach, and Jackie was thrilled. She said yes to spending every day with her best friend. We are so excited for our wedding day and are looking forward to celebrating with our family and friends!