We're excited to see you soon!

Like a lot of couples, Sam and Lauren met online, via Craigslist.com. Sam had lived in Fairbanks for a couple of years and was a newspaper reporter. Lauren was a master’s student studying ocean acidification who rented a room in the same shared house. Sam was too busy getting ready for work to say hi to his new housemate when Lauren arrived to move in. But before long they were cooking dinner together every night, going camping every weekend and competing against each other in kayak ultimate frisbee.

Sam and Lauren realized how much they missed each other when Lauren left for a month to sail around the Arctic Ocean doing science. Over email exchange they planned their first of many Halloween costumes together. Lauren was Rafiki (the baboon from Lion King) and Sam was Timon.

During their first year of dating Sam convinced Lauren to attempt a day hike in Denali National Park that ended up taking more than a day, so they spent a cold night sleeping in a fox den waiting for the sun to come back up. This taught Lauren to ask the important question "is this trip for a newspaper story, or because you think it's a good idea."

Daisy Tada!, who will serve as the wedding flower girl, retired early from sprint mushing and was welcomed into Lauren and Sam’s home. Daisy taught Sam and Lauren how to skijor (Sam still struggles with his lefts and rights) and how to relax.

Sam and Lauren love weird sports. One of their favorites was a short-distance run-bike-kayak triathlon in Fairbanks. The first year they raced, they decided this was the chance to test out tandem biking for the first time. They won second place! But halfway through the race, Sam steered Lauren into a rock, resulting in a devastating mild cut and a permanent, life-long scar. Now Lauren steers when they tandem bike.

Lauren and Sam love Halloween. That’s why they chose this time of year to get married. But Sam thought one Halloween was quite enough so for years he didn’t tell her about the costume-related Jewish holiday of Purim. Once on a call, Sam's sister Sarah accidentally spilled the beans. Starting next year Sam and Lauren will celebrate three Halloweens a year: Halloween, Purim, and their anniversary.

Lauren and Sam go back to Denali National Park for a redemption of the fox den hike since they were smarter and stronger and Lauren was training for an ultramarathon. Turns out, that hike is just fucking hard. But this time, nobody slept in a fox den.

Sam, Lauren and Daisy left Alaska to move to Vermont when Lauren got into business school in Burlington. Some of their best friends joined them for the three-week moving road trip through the Canadian Rockies and U.S. Midwest. They stopped at the Iowa State Fair along the way to drink corn dog-flavored beer and hear candidate Joe Biden give a speech.

Sam and Lauren got engaged this past August. They picked out an engagement ring together, which Sam presented to Lauren with some measure of surprise on a pretty hill overlooking Burlington.