#kingfoundhisqueen

In 2010, King went to study abroad in Granada, Spain, where MacKenzie was beginning her second semester. One weekend early in the semester, the program had a weekend excursion to Rome. King, MacKenzie, and about 50 other American students flew to Italy to explore for the weekend. On the first day there, MacKenzie and her friend, Allison, met up with a friend and his new roommate (who happened to be King) for lunch in a little cafe. So there you have it, King and Mac met in a romantic cafe right in the heart of Roma! However, their love story didn't immediately take off from there. Instead, they became close friends throughout the rest of their time in Granada. MacKenzie was crushing hard on King and had many a grand plan to confess her true feelings, but she never worked up the courage, at least on that side of the Atlantic. King, on the other hand, just hadn't seen the light yet. When Mac left Granada for Seattle, King made her a playlist (that she still listens to from time to time of course), and after that it was all heart eye emojis as she departed Granada on a bus to Madrid on a plane to the US, wondering what would become of them!

They returned to the US, where MacKenzie was going to school at WWU in Bellingham, WA and King was studying at OSU in Corvallis, OR. They started visiting one another and dating long distance, and eventually made things "official" on December 12, 2010. King and MacKenzie spent their final year in undergrad visiting one another about once a month. Those days consisted mostly of cute text messages, really long drives, a significant amount of gas money spent, and lots of looking forward to the next visit.

After graduating, King and Mac decided that they wanted to take another step in their relationship and love for travel. So they moved to Santiago, Chile, in February, 2012 to teach English abroad. They moved in together and spent almost a year calling an enormous South American city home. Before leaving, people joked, “this will either make or break you!” What’s funny is it was so true. That first year living together was TOUGH at times. Living with another human in close quarters, in a city where you don’t speak the language completely fluently, on another continent and 7,000 miles away from your support system can be pretty dang challenging. And yet they grew together and not only did their relationship thrive, they had an amazing experience abroad once again. They made countless memories and so many friends and will forever remember their 500 square foot apartment in the Bellas Artes neighborhood as their very first home.

After their year in Chile, they returned to the US and headed to Seattle so MacKenzie could get her Masters in Teaching at SPU. MacKenzie nannied and went to school, and King began work as a research scientist in the UW biochemistry department. In 2013, they got a chocolate lab, Roman, who is now pretty much the center of their world! For awhile they lived in Magnolia and couldn’t stand the constant traffic and headache of getting anywhere in the city. Now, they’re in Laurelhurst and so much happier being closer to UW, I5 for MacKenzie's work commute, and more of the activities they're interested in. In 2015 Mac finished grad school and became a teacher. During his time working in the biochemistry department, King decided to apply to grad school! He applied all over the country, but ended up deciding upon the Pharmaceutical Science program here at UW. King just began his PhD program in Pharmaceutical Sciences at UW, and MacKenzie teaches 4th grade at Discovery Elementary. They love going to breweries, spending time with friends and family, and taking Roman to the dog park. Although they are both very busy with their jobs, they are so happy and excited to be starting this new chapter of their lives together!

On August 25, 2017, King, MacKenzie, and Roman were camping at Walupt Lake with King’s siblings. During the day, King and MacKenzie were out fishing and rafting on the lake with Kiki and Eric. The whole time, MacKenzie noticed that the others kept talking about, "scoping out a good beach." She was confused as to why the campground beach was not sufficient. In reality, they were forming the first stages of the plan. Later that day, King asked MacKenzie if she wanted to join him on the lake that evening while he went fishing. She agreed, and they set out around 6:15 pm. The others let them know that hot dog dinner would be at 7:15--this time felt unimportant until later. You'll see. They set out on the lake as the sun was setting--the only boat on the water and the mountains surrounding them, casting shadows on the lake from the setting sun. It was absolutely quiet and beautiful. King was rowing the fishing raft around and the fishing line was trolling behind. He kept asking her to check her Fitbit for the time, to make sure they got back for dinner in time. MacKenzie couldn't understand why that was such a big deal! The sun started sinking behind the mountains, and King pointed across the lake to a shaded part. "Let's go over there, the fish will definitely be biting!" So he started to row across the lake. At the other side, King began to row close to shore because he said, "there will be a lot of fish in the shallow end." The fishing line continued to troll behind them, and King eventually asked Mac to "keep your eyes on the fishing pole, in case I get a bite! I have to focus on not rowing us into the rocks, so I need you to not take your eyes off that fishing pole!" In reality, he was trying to redirect MacKenzie's attention away from what could give away what was coming.

King pulled the raft up against some rocks and suggested they explore a trail. Mac was confused, since King had been pretty adamant about returning to the campsite for dinner. They walked along the rocks around the forest edge. MacKenzie saw little lights on the rocks ahead and heard voices. She said, "I think there's a campsite up there," indicating that maybe they should turn around. King replied, "Yeah, let's go check it out!" By this time MacKenzie was so confused and it is shocking that she did not suspect anything still. They approached the "campsite," and MacKenzie noticed that the lights on the rocks were lanterns. As they rounded the corner, she simultaneously saw their nieces, Mabel and Nenita, and their nephew, Gabe, holding signs that said, "Will you be our Tita?" (Tita means aunt in Tagalog) along with a big rock covered with a white tablecloth, roses, a bottle of wine and wine glasses. She immediately started crying and laughing as she realized what was happening. King grabbed the ring off the rock and got down on one knee. Due to emotion and excitement, neither of them recall exactly what was said aside from "Will you marry me?" and that she said, "Yes!" (several times). It turns out, the 7:15 time was indeed important because it was when the siblings were supposed to be at "the spot" with the kids and their signs ready to go for the big proposal! We couldn't get there too early, before they arrived, or too late, lest the small children start to get wild and give away the surprise. When King had asked MacKenzie to stare at the fishing line, really he was just trying to redirect her attention because he had seen Gabe's bright orange sweatshirt as he peeked through the trees to see King and MacKenzie approach! The proposal was absolutely perfect, and ironic as Kiki had asked MacKenzie earlier in the day, "So what cute and romantic things does my brother do for you?" MacKenzie responded, "You know, he's just not really that romantic!" Oops. :)