Can you hear the bells?

Max and Olivia found each other in their high school weight room at the pleasant hour of 6 o'clock in the morning. It was as simple as a pair of 'rice to meet you' sushi socks and a semester of chats by the squat rack to get them hooked on one another. There was no question they must have really liked each other to fall together exclusively in morning puffiness, frizzy hair, and a sheen of workout sweat.

• June 21, 2017: On the last day of school at CHS, we got our first photo together, taken under the guise of celebrating "National Selfie Day!" You can see that photo and other moments from Our Story in the gallery section of this website • July 08, 2017: Officially boyfriend and girlfriend (the second time asking was the charm). • July 17, 2017: Our first date - "Wonder Woman" at the AMC and a walk across Chambers Bay. • October 14, 2017: First event together at the CSHS Homecoming Dance, with dinner at Applebee's first of course • June 09, 2018: Danced the night away at Maxwell's senior prom • September 16, 2018: Our first venture into the world of long-distance dating came with Maxwell's freshman year at Oregon State University. Spoiler alert! They didn't even make it through Christmas break! • February 12, 2019: Hooray! Let's try this again! Second time trying long-distance • September 22, 2019: Enter Olivia's move to OSU. Reunited again! Some of our fondest memories with each other now include dinners at the dining halls and silent study rooms in the Valley Library. • June 11, 2022: Graduation day meant Max was back in Washington and we found ourselves entering our THIRD journey through long-distance. Ow. Then, finally, December 25, 2023...

On Christmas Day last year, Max pulled off en route to dinner to make a stop at Pioneer Orchard Park. Stumbling through rainfall and losing shoes to the muddy grass, they made their way hand-in-hand to the bandstand stage before he bent on one knee and pulled from his coat that beautiful, perfect pear diamond.