Picture this....Hermione Granger picks Victor Krum instead of Ron Weasley. The year was 2012, and potentially world ending...but thankfully it did not and thus our story begins. As fate would have it, Alicia and Derek were both psychology majors at Cal, landing in the same discussion section in Developmental Psychology in the fall of 2012. If it weren't for their psychology connection, it would be rare for a "High Performance Center (HPC)" athlete to co-mingle with a "Low Performance Center (LPC)" athlete. The sheer geographic topography between the two facilities was simply too grand for a 260lb elite discus thrower to overcome. But, once weekly he made his way upward of 1 whole mile on a 25cc Honda Metropolitan scooter to arrive 1 minute late every Tuesday to talk about Paget's Theory of Childhood Development. Two weeks into the discussion section, he mustered up the confidence to ask the most annoying know it all in class, "Are you on the gymnastics team?" for which she replied, "YES!" excitedly, while wearing a Cal Gymnastics T-Shirt. After each discussion would end, he would walk her to her car, always managing to make her laugh or point out some obscure bird for her to forget immediately. Semesters turned into years at Cal, but somehow their schedules always seemed to align. While we will never know if it was Derek's brewing love interest or his desperation for Alicia's notes that drew their schedules together, we do know that Derek's comic relief combined with Alicia's intellectual perfectionism was a symbiotic relationship. Derek has always been a grounding force for Alicia's ....Alicianess. To this day, Derek swears their first date was not in fact a first date but an "honest thank you" for a humble sharing of notes and for painting the throws' house beer pong table before finals. But, the curly fries at Barney's may tell a different story. From then on, the two were inseparable, but Alicia wasn't all in yet. It wasn't until she was forced to leave her home of 3 years with her 8 teammates after graduation, that Alicia knew she needed to take the next step. She was effectively homeless, jobless and unsure about the future. Fortunately, Derek was an unpaid strength and conditioning intern paying $500 for rent and open for a roommate. But, the two quickly realized as their love grew it was time to discover a place of their own and found their home in North Berkeley. Aside from 4 functioning walls, this apartment had other perks as well. In fact, it allowed for "absolutely no pets," aside from a small, water loving black tabby who was willing to live in secrecy to join his young apartment dwelling owners. They would have stayed in Berkeley forever, Alicia working in San Francisco as a medical assistant in ENT and Derek as a strength coach, but life had bigger plans for them. Accepted to UC San Diego Medical School, the team packed up and moved to La Jolla where Derek pursued his own higher education in the form of an MBA. They enjoyed the sunsets, the beach, the endless burritos, but after 4 years of sheer bliss, they began to miss their northern families and scenery. So, when the match gods gave Alicia the opportunity to continue to her medical studies as an Orthopaedic surgery resident at UCSF and Derek landed his dream job as an analyst at Clif Bar, the three of them could not have been happier. While the years have flown by, the experiences have been immense. Over the last 12 years they have had 4 apartments, traveled to 4 countries, survived two lung collapses and more than half an orthopaedic surgery residency. While life has had its ups and downs, the two seem to grow closer with every challenge life throws at them. They have been anticipating this day for many years and are so excited to finally share it with their friends and families. So bring your dancin' shoes, your favorite stories and raise a glass of your finest hot chocolate, Derek and Alicia are gettin' hitched!