Ali's version: I met my friends at the library to study one night. This was a common hang-out activity as it was free and studying was actually interesting (but more of excuse to have a cool, quiet room to ourselves to catch up). My friends were in their first year of pharmacy school and I was eager to start the next year. My friends mentioned they had invited a fellow classmate to join, but I didn't know who he was. In the middle of their study sesh, a knock on the door interrupts their trains of thought, and a tall, skinny man with a big smile and a bowl cut walks in, introduces himself to me as "Douglas", and has a seat. I don't remember studying anymore that night, but I do remember we bonded over New Girl. And then I invited him over to watch some time. Doug's version: Ali and I met in a same setting as my mom meeting my dad…in a library! I was the quiet, shy one studying pharmacy with my friends and Ali was trying to get into pharmacy school. Ali was able to bring me out of my shell after we discovered a common interest in a show called New Girl because I loved a character named Schmidt and she loved Zooey Deschanel. We played hard to get over the course of many months where she kept trying to get me to come over to watch New Girl, but we finally got together one day to watch something. But instead of New Girl, it turned out to be Man of Steel with Henry Cavill, my favorite Superman, and discussed how much better he was than Ali’s favorite Superman, Brandon Routh. I finally asked her out one day by having her go on a scavenger hunt all over her house looking for clues that were puzzle pieces that eventually led her outside. I met her with a bouquet of her favorite orange/yellow roses to nervously ask her out. For reasons unbeknown to me, she said yes! And the rest is history.

Ali took PSIO 101 with a group of her Blue Chip friends. One day, she noticed a tall, skinny Asian man walk down the aisle of the auditorium with this MASSIVE backpack. This backpack was packed to the brim, on the brink of exploding open. It was twice as wide as the man was. She pointed this out to her friends and they giggled. The man continued down the aisle and sat one chair in, plopping his large backpack on the aisle seat. Moments later, a cute blonde girl came bouncing down the aisle. He saw her coming, smiled big, then moved his backpack to let her sit. Ali thought this was so cute, it could be a video short Wong Fu produced on youtube. From then on, Ali would recognize this man almost daily and smile. A few weeks down the road, one of her Blue Chip friends wasn't sitting with the group. They looked around the room and saw that he was sitting next to large-back-pack man. Ali gasped. Her friend returned to their usual row and Ali bombarded him with questions. Turns out he went to high school with large-back-pack man and he was also going to pharmacy school. If you haven't guessed already, large-back-pack man was Doug.

Doug was leaving for 6 weeks to do a pharmacy rotation in New Zealand. He knew Ali loved to watch dance videos and by this time they had already determined that their song was “All of Me” by John Legend. Brian Puspos had just come out with choreography to this song so Doug learned the moves and recorded a video for Ali. At the very end of the video, Doug leaned in and told Ali he was going to miss her while he was away. Then he finished the video by saying “I love you”. Ali immediately called him and said "I love you too."

Doug and Ali strive to grow old together traveling the world. Their first trip out of state together was to California for a trip to Disneyland. Ali did not know that Doug did not like rollercoasters so needless to say they did not go on very many rides together. They saw Ariana Grande in Utah and they saw Derren Brown in New York. They have been to two of the Hawaiian Islands and hope to visit them all. Their international travels together include Canada (Toronto) and Japan (Tokyo & Kyoto) so far. They are hoping to go to South Korea or New Zealand for their honeymoon.

New foods have been a pivotal experience in Doug and Ali's journey. If there is an interesting item on a menu, it’s entirely possible they’ll order it just to try. A few of Doug’s local favorites include spicy salmon don from Samurai, chicken wings from Noodleholics, and the El Padre breakfast burrito from Seis Kitchen. Ali’s usuals include a lobster sushi roll from Sushi On Cortaro (On River), Pork Pad See Yew from Karuna’s, and the Mushroom Burger with a vanilla milkshake and tater tots from Trulands. They have been to three 3-star Michelin restaurant and are excited to go to more. A few favs from the Michelin restaurants include: iberico ham tacos from Benu, foie gras and green apple cones from Per Se, and the quail and lily bulb dumplings from Kikunoi.

Ali grew up with many pets – cats, dogs, fish, birds, a bearded dragon. Doug, on the other hand, grew up with none. When Ali and Doug moved in together, this was the first time Ali hadn’t had a pet at home. This really emphasized for her the saying “a house is not a home without a pet.” For years Ali begged Doug for a dog, even a cat, but he could not be convinced. Finally, after a little time spent in their current home, an opportunity presented itself. One of Ali’s former coworkers, Christine, mentioned that she had a dog that she needed to find a home for. She had talked about Beast before and had even brought him in to work. Ali was instantly in love, but she never fathomed being his mom. When Christine mentioned she had to rehome Beast, Ali jumped at the opportunity and started to woo Doug. She showered him with photos of Beast, told him how much of a good boi he was, and asked if they would set a meetup with Christine and Beast. I mean, Beast already knew Ali so how perfect was this? Finally, Doug said yes – he met Beast, and the rest is history. Doug is the best dog dad a girl could ask for, especially since Beast is such a problem child and requires lots of care.