Matt and Masha met in March 2021 while both were students at Michigan State University. Their first date was coffee and a walk around Kensington Metropark — the perfect mix of caffeine, first-date jitters, and lots of laughter. They quickly bonded over their love of the outdoors, travel, and trying new things (and maybe a little friendly competition when it comes to board games). That summer and fall were spent at the MSU Sailing Center, where they spent endless sunny days with great friends, grilling out, and pretending to know more about sailing than they actually did, and chasing inflatable flamingos around Lake Lansing. For their first anniversary, they celebrated at The Watershed in East Lansing and somewhere inside, there’s still a dollar bill with their names on it to prove it. Every summer before moving to North Carolina, they made the trek to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, one of their favorite places in Michigan, and right before the move, they took a two-week road trip through Glacier, Yellowstone, and the Badlands. Glacier National Park quickly became their favorite spot on earth (and set the bar way too high for all future vacations). In 2022, they packed up their cars and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, where Matt started graduate school and they started a new chapter. Between the two of them, they’ve lived in five apartments, adopted two cats, survived one apartment flood, and gone through six cars, though somehow, they’ve managed to keep their sense of humor intact through it all with the help of the great friends they've made in both Michigan and North Carolina. They’ve spent weekends hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and discovered their favorite brewery in Boone, NC (worth the three-hour drive, every time). Countless hikes, morning sunrises, and stunning views their love for the outdoors has only grown over the years. Last year, they road-tripped to Acadia National Park in Maine for ten days, hiking the rocky coastlines, watching the sunrise over the Atlantic, and splurging on fresh seafood every single night. Four years, countless adventures, and a whole lot of laughter later, Matt proposed at sunrise on a North Carolina beach, the sweetest start to their forever story.