We met in the fall of our senior year working in a sushi restaurant called Hiro88 in Lincoln, Nebraska while in undergrad at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln! The following spring we had a capstone thesis class for our English majors together. We sat next to one another, quickly becoming good friends. We started a little study group with two friends of ours, and quickly fell for one another thereafter. We celebrate our anniversary every year on March 2nd, as that was our first date!

It was Joseph’s birthday and we celebrated with my family at a restaurant in town called Stylus. Following that, the plan was to rendezvous at my parents’ lake property to continue the celebrations. Joe and I made it out there first, and Joe convinced me to head right down to the dock to watch the sunset. I was completely oblivious! He proposed on the dock with the sun going down — it was the most perfect day!!

When COVID19 began in the spring of our senior year, we had just started dating. Kate went back to Idaho to finish senior year over Zoom and Joseph stayed in Lincoln. Kate moved back to Nebraska after graduating, and then we decided to stay in Lincoln while we got on our feet after graduation. A year later, after walking at UNL’s 2020 make-up, in-person graduation ceremony, we moved to Seattle, Washington together. Seattle was filled with so many wonderful moments: living together in our first apartment, bartending at amazing restaurants, exploring the incredible city and surrounding areas, a short stint as a dog walker, Karabeth and Karsyn living in the building next door to ours, meeting such wonderful people, and adopting our two beautiful kitties, Sake and Ro (named after sashimi as an ode to Hiro88!). Then, Kate was accepted to the University of Montana’s Masters of Literature program and it was time to do long distance again. Joseph moved to Missoula a year later as Kate finished up her literature thesis. Joseph applied to Law schools and was accepted to Gonzaga University! Now, Kate is finishing up her MFA in Fiction Writing at UM and Joseph is in his first year of law school in Spokane, Washington. Kate will move to Spokane after graduating from UM in the spring of 2026, and then they will begin married life together! We are so grateful to you all for all your love and support throughout our journey and cannot wait to celebrate with you!