Mari moved back to Chandler after 4 years only to find most of her friends already moved out of state. With a new job and trying to settle in, it was hard to find time to meet new people. As a way to get out more, her roommates recommended joining a Dating App. Not expecting much, Mari joined and started browsing thru. Matt's roommates coincidentally met their girlfriends at the same dating app and decided to try his luck. We matched and started talking immediately. We were gravitated to each other by both being engineers and able to talk about work and understand the technical aspects of our jobs. Outside of work, Mari found Matt funny and easy to talk to; while Matt found Mari very sweet and intelligent. After much effort and a few cancelations, we met at Golfland for our first date to play mini golf. Matt showed up in a flannel shirt and the ugliest shoes Mari has ever seen, giving her the impression "this guy doesn't know how to dress himself". Matt, being the gentleman he is, paid for the date but consistently complained that mini golf should not cost $30 (an opinion he stands by to this day). The round of mini golf soon turned from a date to a competition both were determined to win, even resorting to dirty tactics like moving balls and sabotaging the other to get in the lead. Although it was a good time, it didn't feel like a date to either of us. There was no sparks flying or glowing epiphany that "this is the person I will marry". Instead it felt like hanging out with a friend. Neither expected a second date. Afterwards, Matt walked Mari to her car; fortunately we did not make it to the car. Instead we sat down under a tree in the parking lot and began talking, finally showing each others personalities in full. It felt like only 15 minutes had past, but before we knew it Golfland had closed and we were being kicked out of the parking lot. We had a second and third date the next two nights, and the rest is history...

As one last hoorah before parenthood, we decided to go to Hawaii. We invited a few friends and family to join. While the majority of the group was off deep sea fishing, we decided to do our own thing and travel to the top of Mauna Kea (the highest peak on the big island and technically taller than Mt. Everest). While off-roading to the summit of the mountain, you do not get the feeling you are in Hawaii. Snow and ice cover the ground and the 70 degree weather you would normally enjoy on the beach plummets to below freezing. We obviously didn't prepare for this sharp change in environment and were both in sandals and shorts, but didn't care! After brushing off a concerned looked from the park ranger for our lack of proper clothes, we set off to the summit. The top was breath taking; with nothing in sight but waves after waves of clouds with some just within a fingertips length. Making the summit even more interesting are the telescopes and observatories scattered around the top of the mountain. Some of resembled little sheds while others were towering buildings bigger than churches. Matt was especially geeking out due to his love for astronomy. Mari jumped out of the jeep immediately after reaching the summit, running to edge to take in the view. When she turned around, Matt was already on one knee. We're excited to celebrate this next chapter of our lives with you! See you on the slopes!