Neither of us expected to find 'the one' on a dating app in Spring of 2015, and honestly, it wasn't love at first sight - but instead a beautiful friendship that bloomed over several years, and countless hikes and finally a backpacking trip where we both grossly overestimated our outdoorsy-ness. After lugging a 10lb tent into the Point Reyes wilderness, forgetting matches, and barely sleeping as rodents scrounged through our bear box... we both sat in the tent in the following morning, bleary eyed and exhausted and thought "I think there's something here..." And there certainly was.

Eli sparked a plan in May 2023, while Jenny had a hunch that the late summer trip abroad would be the moment, he planted an idea for the annual holiday card photo to be taken on a secret beach adjacent to their favorite campground. While Jenny fussed with the camera settings, perfected the angle, and set their marks - Eli took a deep breath, and got down on one knee in the wet sand. And so on an empty beach, and to an audience of seagulls, there was a resounding 'YES!' exclaimed above the waves.