We met in college when the world was still trying to get back to normal after the COVID lockdown. Lauren and her roommates were going stir crazy in their small apartment in rainy Eugene, so they decided to throw a small gathering with a few girls they met on campus. Lauren's roommate was seeing Zac's roommate and she had mentioned inviting the boys of that apartment to really make it a party. Lucky for them, they were only 6 floors below! Lauren said "more the merrier" but little did she think she'd be meeting her person that night. After a night of laughing, singing, and skipping down the street hand in hand our fate was locked in. We're now five years together, and still dancing like the party never ended.

After almost 3 years of being together, graduation came up and so did the dreaded question of she's from SoCal and he's from Oregon, what do we do? Lauren had landed a job at an accounting firm in Irvine, CA that started soon after graduation. Luckily - shout out Aunt Renee - we had spent the previous summer in SoCal house sitting while Lauren pursued her accounting internship which gave them a taste of life outside the college bubble. We both knew there was no parting ways at the life we could have together and so Zac graciously moved to SoCal where he now manages at Enterprise just minutes from Lauren's office.

A little over a year after graduation, we planned our second international trip together to Amsterdam, Paris, and Norway. During our quick stop in Paris, we laid out wine, cheeses, meats, beignets, and a baguette right under the Eiffel tower. With a storm on its way the place was strangely deserted. Just as the tower began to sparkle, the storm broke and lightning cracked in the distance. Zac on one knee, a rainy ambiance, just the two of us- it was an easy answer. We spent the remainder of that trip goo goo eyed in Norway thinking how lucky we are under the northern lights.