It was Halloween - my first holiday party as a college freshman! That meant creative (and a little scandalous) costumes, dirty frat houses and a lot of alcohol - not the kind of place you expect to find your future husband. I had met a cute guy at a sorority barbecue a few days before and made it my goal to find him at this party. I was dressed in a referee costume I borrowed from a sorority sister. Soon enough word got out that I was looking for Justin and his fraternity brothers made it embarrassingly obvious, yelling his name and trying to push the two of us together. That night we kissed on the balcony of what would become his next apartment. It's where we made our crew of best friends, made questionable decisions many college students make, and most importantly — fell in love. This story isn't necessarily romantic and it definitely wasn't love at first sight, but meeting and loving this cute "frat guy" was the best time of my life. Every day with him is the best time of my life. We've grown up together. We spent three years apart as we both followed our different career paths and still found our way back to one another. That "frat guy" will soon have a “PhD” behind his name. I have no doubts he will be a caring, loving husband and a phenomenal father to our future children. But to me, he will always be that funny guy in a backwards hat, earrings and Berkeley sweatshirt who was too cool for a Halloween costume and had no idea the incredibly beautiful, roller coaster of a love story he was about to be part of. - Amanda

Me and Amanda’s love has always had to travel well. For many years we didn’t live in the same state. And even when we did, in Washington, it was on completely different sides! I remember when Amanda first moved to Washington at the start of 2016, I drove my parents old Toyota Camry across Oregon and into Washington after the holidays to check-in on her in what was basically Western Idaho. That was just the first of many long trips that car would take to see Amanda. Driving the four hours from Seattle to Kennewick, a city I had never even heard of before she moved there. Sometimes for a long weekend, sometimes for a just a couple days, but no matter how long I was there, it was always worth it. And even though our future was uncertain, we made some of our best memories there anyway. It was there that Amanda had her first job as a reporter, and where we first met Benni. Every time that we had together felt special. From when we walked the wineries of Walla Walla with our little celebrity Benni, to when we taught him to swim in the Columbia River. When I moved to Wisconsin, I treasured the trips to see her even more. We watched the sun disappear in a complete solar eclipse in Oregon and hoped that we would live in the same city soon. My second year in Wisconsin, I spent two months in a two-bedroom apartment I couldn’t afford to make those hopes a reality. But part of me was scared that it wouldn’t feel as special when I saw Amanda every day. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I wake up every morning in disbelief that I met such a beautiful, caring, funny woman, and that she somehow wants to spend the rest of her life with me, even after quarantining for a year together. Even as the world seems to keep getting crazier, every day with Amanda is filled with joy and laughter and I can’t wait for the many memories yet to be made.