Namita's Version of the Story Our story began two years prior to us starting a relationship when Riley and I became friends my sophomore year of college. It was fall term of my sophomore year of college and all of our mutual friends decided to host a party at Riley's house which is where I met Riley for the very first time. I was stunned by his two dimples, loud persona, and baby blue eyes. My first thoughts when we met were "man, this guy can talk... I like it already!" . Our friendship grew strong over the next two years as we navigated through Oregon State Greek life, engineering, and IM softball together. The turning point in our relationship was Mom's Weekend where both our moms met for the first time and both indirectly asked us why we weren't dating. Like they say, moms always know best. . Following Mom's weekend was our annual college trip to Lake Shasta with our closest college friends where we rented a house boat with Riley as captain. During this trip we had both confessed our ongoing feelings for each other, where we wanted to go next, and we have never looked back. Four years and counting, I continue to thank the universe for bringing Riley into my life. Riley's Version of the Story I first met Namita during fall term of my senior year at Oregon State, while living in the Sigma Chi Fraternity. I still remember shaking her hand and introducing myself, but I could have never imagined that in that moment I was meeting my future wife for the very first time. While I immediately gravitated towards her smile and personality (and looks hehe), we didn’t begin dating immediately. Namita and I spent the next few years hanging out every weekend and constantly going on trips with all our mutual friends. I always knew that I was interested in Namita but we built our friendship foundation for two years before we started dating. In the Spring of my final year at Oregon State, all our parents traveled down to Corvallis for the infamous ‘Mom’s Weekend’, and this is where everything changed. During a visit to one of the local wineries, my mom had the opportunity to meet Namita and her mom, Sonie. She immediately fell in love with them both and pulled me aside later that night and said, “I see the way you look and interact with Namita, what are you waiting for???”. I knew that once I couldn’t answer the question, that she was probably right (as mom’s always are). It wasn’t but one week later that we went on another weekend trip to Shasta Lake in California, and I confessed my true feelings to Namita. The rest is history. Over 4 years later, we are living together in Arizona with a new home, a dog on the way, and incredible memories that I will never forget. I love Namita with all my heart and I wouldn’t trade our journey for anything.