In 2006, two plump little fifth graders attended a school one day each week just for art. One loved sketching horses and dragons and making clay sculptures, and the other was an aspiring anime artist (also with a thing for dragons). They spent whole days less than 20 feet apart, but never thought much of each other. As it turns out, much of the next seven years went the same. Both being artists and musicians, they found themselves traversing the same halls, sitting in the same classrooms, and even playing the same melody on different instruments. Yet they never took notice of one another. Eventually, and almost inevitably, these two art and music nerds did find themselves in a mutual friend group. But perhaps not the way you’d expect. Unless you predicted that it would be after HS graduation in a group of mostly adults who hung out until sunrise each night playing Magic the Gathering at a McDonald’s where half of them worked - because it happened just like that. On spinning chairs attached to a floor smelling permanently of French fry grease, they finally became best friends. The spinning chairs were eventually abandoned in favor of long talks in the front seats of their cars. Talking, laughing, and flirting persisted into texts and Facebook messages. And as the first semester of college loomed near, hanging out turned into covert dates (the first being retroactively decided as Aug 2, 2014) to avoid needing to have an answer for how they would make something so new work from hours away… You know, of course, that they did make it work. WE made it work. (The secret is determination, love, and gasoline.) But now you know how it all started.

Thankfully, the days of miles between us are behind us now. But, what actually led us to where we are today? And was it always so obvious that ours was a question of "when and where" and not a question of "if"? College and the days thereafter dotted the NW and SW Ohio map with places we'd lived or visited, each bringing new experiences and challenges along the way. Throughout these, we accumulated some fantastic friends and hobbies that got us through rough times, were always there to celebrate the good times, and helped grow our love of new things. We discovered our love for metro parks and nature reserves, competing, local eateries, and cheap entertainment. We even got our furry friends, Sofi and Shika! We shared many "firsts" in both NW and SW Ohio - and to have many new firsts with the person you love is something we hope everyone can experience. But these are neither our "when" nor "where." Instead, something else we found we really enjoy is adventuring to entirely new places outside of our little corn-speckled state. It still is a pastime to visit local parks and businesses, but some of our favorite memories are from the vacations we've been on: Chicago, Pigeon Forge, D.C, St. Louis, and the Carolinas. It was actually during our travels that the proposal finally took place. In the summer of 2019, we went for a long weekend vacation in Washington D.C. with some of our best friends. We had planned the entire weekend, with great determination to hit every attraction. But someone had their own secret agenda: they were deciding on the best way to propose in a place they've never seen. Planning for perfection fell by the wayside as nerves took over by the middle of the first day. And so, it was alongside friends and many friendly strangers in the US Botanic Garden that I, Josh, took a knee to ask Destiny for her hand in marriage. Now, we get to share our love with you, and look forward to many more firsts, travels, and more with each other. 💕

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