We met in seventh grade: the era of braces, side bangs, thick eye liner, long hair to be seen underneath a baseball helmet, and awkward side hugs. Our middle school groups collided and we quickly became friends. By freshman year of high school, we were Homecoming dates. Our friendship grew stronger and the awkward side hugs turned into real hugs and shared high school experiences. We had the same friends, but more than that, we tended to hang around each other. At parties, we would talk and other times we would text. Our friendship ebbed and flowed in high school, but we always found ourselves close by. Although in different sports and classes, some of our best high school experiences were shared. We drove down PCH blasting music or talking, threw Henderson & Kappes parties when the parents were away, and created memories of summer beach days, hikes, Harbor House shakes, weekend bagels, BBQs, bonfires, concerts, and the terrifying party buses. By the end of high school, our close friendship turned into a complicated romance, disjointed by one man’s emotional immaturity, but held together by the strong love and understanding for each other we always had. However, this still wasn't the start of "us" (as much as our friends and family wanted it to be). We went on to USC and Boston University, but something kept bringing us back together. Whenever we were in the same time zone or along the same coast, our friendship picked up exactly where it left off. Every time we saw each other, it was like we never left. And this still wasn’t the start. At the end of the summer in 2019, we started hanging out and we would never stop. Days at the beach turned into nights having drinks or going on adventures along the coast. Old feelings returned, but they were stronger now. We loved not only who each other was, but who we had become. Finally, on November 29, 2019 at Project Social, Nate nervously asked Liz to be his girlfriend. One month later, we were living in Palo Alto in a 200 square foot studio apartment ready to adventure through life together. And two years later on September 17, 2022 we were engaged.