When we moved to New York for medical school at NYU, we expected a lot of hard work, long hours, and hopefully some new friends. The last thing we ever expected was to find the love of our life among our fellow classmates. That all changed when we coincidentally sat next to one another during orientation week on a dinner cruise around Manhattan. It was apparent from that first meeting that there was an undeniable connection between us. Although there was clearly something special between us, we remained just friends for the first two years we knew each other – gravitating toward one another in between lectures, during NYU’s legendary post-exam nights out, and in early morning study sessions in “the dungeon”. In a clumsy attempt at flirting, Max brought Michelle a cup of coffee to the library and proceeded to spill the entire thing all over her laptop (then subsequently spent the rest of the day looking for summer side gigs to buy her a new one). Despite this hiccup, we continued to grow closer and closer with time. When we finally got around to going on our first real date, we were both nervous – not because we were worried it wouldn’t go well, but because we knew it was going to be our last first date. And we were right. We have only grown more and more in love every day since. The only thing standing between us and our beautiful life together was the big question: Florida vs. California. Max always wanted to move back to Florida after school and Michelle certainly never wanted to live anywhere other than Southern California - so we “compromised”… and decided to go with Michelle’s wishes (at least she’s not from North Dakota, right?). When it came time to propose, Max did everything he could to pull off a great surprise. He arranged for us to spend a week together at a resort on Pensacola Beach, his whole family would be there, and he even arranged for Michelle’s parents and brother to join in the celebrations. The plan was going off without a hitch when, on the day of the proposal, Michelle received a text message, said “wait, what?? Oh… nevermind”, and quickly put her phone away. At his first opportunity, Max opened Michelle’s phone only to see a message from American Airlines saying “your flight from Santa Ana, CA to Pensacola, FL is delayed”... the secret was out. She knew, and he knew she knew. So, naturally, we both spent the rest of the day pretending we didn’t know anything, making small talk about the weather. Michelle was a good sport and tried to help Max out though, even suggesting a sunset walk on the beach before dinner – what a great idea!! Whether it’s been spilled coffee, changing life plans, or a fumbled surprise engagement – we have laughed, danced, and grown more in love through all of it. We are so excited for the wonderful, adventurous life we are going to build together and we can’t wait to celebrate our marriage with all of the people we love in beautiful Lake Tahoe!