The Darling-Doll Wedding Experience!

Our journey started in the Fall of 2010 when we first arrived at Chapman University to begin our college adventure. As fate would have it, we were assigned to be next door neighbors in the freshman dorm, literally separated only by a grimy cinderblock wall and our 18-year old inhibitions. We were also both student-athletes, playing soccer for the university (another coincidence...or was it fate!?). Along with a gaggle of dormmates (many of whom are still key fixtures in our lives and in our wedding), we became fast friends throughout our first year of college. A mutual attraction was quick to follow and was detected by a few of our friends (and what are freshman-year friends good for if not peer pressure?). However, as next door neighbors, things seemed a little too close for comfort. After a summer apart (Chris in California and Kathleen back home in Colorado), we decided to give the Darling-Doll romance a real college try. We began dating and made it #FacebookOfficial at the start of our sophomore year in August 2011, when we were no longer next door neighbors (three cheers for healthy boundaries)!

In the 10 years we've spent together since, we've made life-long memories and navigated countless obstacles. We've traveled the world together and separately. We've pursued graduate degrees and professional opportunities. We've spent summers in college and even an entire year apart from each other. And conversely, we spent the duration of the pandemic (going on 17 months) living/working within 5 feet of each other at all times. We've come through all of it together and stronger than we were before. Today, Chris and Kathleen live with their Pug, Tobias Johnson (aka Toby), in Orange County, CA (not too far from where it all started).