Our love story began with an innocent interview over zoom in December of 2021. Markus was supposed to be interviewing Liz, but quickly found himself selling her on the company and trying to convince her to join. He was intrigued by her curiosity, beauty, and intelligence. When the call ended, Markus made sure he followed up with Liz on LinkedIn and emailed her, crossing his fingers things would work out. As fate would have it, she started in March of 2022. They first met in person a few days after Liz had started when she flew out to San Diego to meet the team. Liz was based in Austin, TX at the time. Liz and Markus had their first customer call together early in the morning so Markus showed up even earlier to make sure he was prepared to put on a good first impression. When she walked in the office, he knew he was in serious trouble. They gave each other a hug and she was everything he had anticipated and more, just maybe a little shorter than he had expected. (Liz also thought Markus would be a little taller lol.) Liz’s birthday was the following day, so the sales team went out for a happy hour and Markus made sure to drive her to the restaurant at One Paseo, and then back to her hotel. Liz flew back to Austin after the week and the stage was already set. They both really enjoyed each other's company without saying it to each other explicitly. In the weeks that followed, Liz would come up with questions to ask Markus just so they could talk and spend more time getting to know each other. The sparks really flew at the company offsite in Cabo the first week of May. What was supposed to be a week of work ended up completely different when all of the events were canceled because a coworker tested positive for Covid. Liz and Markus reunited at the welcome happy hour and spent hours talking after everyone else left. What started as small talk developed into deeper conversation. At one point their feet touched flirting and they each knew this could be something more than a work relationship. The following days they grew closer and closer. From a group dinner at Flora Farms, to partying at Omnia, and a late night adventure to the infamous Squid Roe. They talked a lot about their lives, who they were, and who they wanted to become. They realized that they were very similar in so many ways (same-same), knew some of the same people, and it felt like their lives were running in parallel, but only by serendipity did they end up crossing. At the end of the trip, they took separate shuttles to the airport, barely missing each other at the gate for one last goodbye. Markus knew he had to see her again, and soon. It was only a few weeks later that Liz came out to San Diego to visit. After contemplating what he had missed out on his entire life, Markus knew he couldn’t lose this opportunity and immediately asked Liz to be his girlfriend. They spent the summer together in San Diego, spending every weekend going to the beach in PB, enjoying the sunsets and picnics at Kate Sessions, and took weekend trips to Mexico. In July 2023, Markus moved halfway across the country to be with Liz in Texas. 2023 was filled of lots of travel (leaving Austin whenever possible lol) and solidified how deeply they loved each other. Markus had known since the beginning that Liz was the love of his life, so in March 2024, he planned an elaborate proposal in the Florida Keys, just prior to their Miami trip. He was so nervous, but managed to get the words "Will you marry me?" out and Liz was already crying and nodding her head yes before he could even get on a knee. In April 2024, we made the best decision to move back to Santa Monica, settling down on the very same street we both worked on a few years back. We likely walked past each other many times before, but never knew each other. Today, we stroll around Santa Monica completely inseparable - no longer two ships passing in the night.