Abe grew up in Brooklyn and went to college in the DC area. Lindsey grew up in the DC suburbs and went to college in New York. But our paths didn't cross until we both moved to Spain to teach English in October 2011 and were placed at neighboring schools in the northwestern city of Vigo. Right before the program started, Abe got Lindsey's contact information from his school and introduced himself over email. The night Lindsey arrived, Abe happened to be online and asked if she'd like to meet up for a quick drink. Although she was already in bed, Lindsey fought the jet lag and met Abe around the corner at his hostel. We quickly found ourselves lost in conversation over glasses of vino at a neighborhood tapas bar. Throughout the next week, we were practically inseparable as we hopped from hostel to hostel, often forced to share a room due to a frozen seafood convention that had inundated the city's lodgings. We searched for a two-room apartment to share together, as friends. Shortly after moving in together, we spent a day at a colleague's seaside villa, followed by a night of dancing in downtown Vigo. That night, we realized we had quickly become more than just friends.

Before Abe started graduate school in Austin, we embarked on a backpacking trip that started in Mexico City and ended in Belize and Guatemala. Nothing was planned except the return flight. Each leg of the trip came about on a whim, in true Abe fashion. The one thing he did plan was that he was going to pop the question. While in Oaxaca, we spent a day touring archeological sites outside of the city. That night, we treated ourselves to the one fancy dinner of our trip, on a rooftop overlooking an illuminated church. As the restaurant started winding down, Lindsey went to the restroom. She came back to the table to find Abe on one knee. Abe is always good with surprises, and this was the best surprise of all. Of course, Lindsey said yes! Although Abe had wisely left his great-grandmother's heirloom engagement ring back home in the US for safekeeping, Lindsey wouldn't have had it any other way. Photos by Philip Moniz