Louie and Ellie first crossed paths at the University of San Diego when Ellie was a freshman and Louie was a junior. That next year Louie asked Ellie to go to formal with him at the Birch aquarium where they danced with the fishes! It was around this time they realized they shared not only birthdays but also a love of seahorses. But Ellie was set to go abroad that fall. She did gift Louie a bunch of books (which he’s kept!) as she moved out of her dorm that spring before they parted ways. Jump ahead to 2022, Ellie was now living in Manhattan Beach when she got a message from Louie asking if she still liked seahorses. This was followed by an email with a scanned article from Nat Geo on seahorses. In thanks, Ellie offered him a book recommendation, a French novel called The Anomaly. Despite the distance, they kept in touch all summer and Ellie was so excited when Louie asked if it’d be ok for him to fly out for a visit that August. Those first weekend trips were filled with adventures through Manhattan beach, the Griffith observatory, trips to the mountains, and Gimme Gimme Disco. Louie helped Ellie move from Manhattan beach to Pasadena (carrying some heavy things up narrow stairs), and a year later out of Pasadena to Denver in 2024. As fun as the weekend trips to visit each other were, it has been nice to share the same zip code! Our past couple years together have been filled with thrilling travels, fun times with our families and friends, road trips, camping trips, so many movies, bookstores, yummy meals. Life has been good to us and we can’t wait for the chapters ahead!