Our story started with a week neither of us could have predicted. Back when Mariah was in grad school in New Jersey, she came out to California for the first time to have a short vacation. Through mutual connections, we were introduced, and from the moment we met, something just clicked. We spent that week getting to know each other, and by the end of it, we both knew this was something special. The next four months were spent long distance. With Mariah in NJ finishing her internship at a children’s hospital, and Dylan in California working a full time job at SoCalGas and being in the National Guard. Even with the miles between us, we talked every day and our connection only grew stronger. We visited each other twice for very short stays, 6 hour flights to spend 2-3 days together, each time we saw each other confirmed that what we had was real. After graduation, Mariah returned to California for a month. We knew we didn’t want to go back to long distance. So we made a big decision: Mariah accepted a job as a Speech Pathologist in Southern California and made the 2,750-mile move from Wayne, New Jersey to Long Beach, California to start our life together. We’ve been building our life together ever since, and now, we can’t wait to celebrate the next chapter with you.