Our story goes back all the way to 2010, which was our 7th-grade year. A performance by Maggie as the Sour Kangaroo in "Seussical: The Musical" impressed Victor's mom so much that he never heard the end of "kangaroo girl." Fast forwarding through the rest of middle school and into high school, we ended up in many of the same classes and getting to know each other through mutual friends and study groups. It wasn't until some pushing from Maggie's friends in 2014 that Victor asked her on a date, which promptly fell through because of busy extracurricular schedules. We ended up splitting the date into two days: ice cream after school before spring break (which happened to be Maggie's birthday), and then another date at the end of spring break. After both went well, we "made it official" on April 4th, 2014. Through the rest of high school, we navigated growing our relationship through all the ups and downs of being teenagers. From heavy testing seasons, going to school dances together, attending each other's sports games and musical performances, and going on different trips with each other's families, we made sure to get everything we wanted out of our final years of high school while growing closer and supporting each other. After high school, Maggie was set on going to the University of Kansas, and Victor found a small school in Oregon that had a program he was interested in. Even though there were 2 time zones and 1800 miles that would be separating us, we did not want to end our relationship. So we decided that we would give long-distance a shot. There were many highs and lows during our four years in school. We settled into a routine, making sure to video call daily. Depending on our days and schedules, these calls sometimes went more than 4 hours long, neither of us wanting to say goodbye. During school breaks, we would either go back to Livermore or travel to visit each other and experience what school and life were like in the other place. Post-graduation, Maggie decided to continue her education in Kansas. Due to the wrench that was the pandemic, Victor had no plans, and they decided that Victor would move out to Kansas to finally end the long-distance part of our relationship. Since moving in together, Maggie has become a 4th grade teacher, and Victor works at the State of Kansas Health Laboratory. Through our 6 years in Kansas, we have adopted a few cats, attended many Kansas basketball games, and even bought a house in the same neighborhood where Maggie’s grandmother used to teach! We make time to visit local zoos often, and when we travel, we make sure to visit the closest zoo.