I LOVE love. I love hearing stories of how people met and what brought them together. We know that so many of our friends and family haven't heard some of the stories of how we met and how things unfolded, so this feels like a fun opportuntity to capture it in writing and give our guests a glimpse into how we got here! I've had so much fun having fun writing all of these stories out, even if nobody reads them😂 . Feel free to read through the long or short versions - whichever suits you best!

November 2021: Christina and Kris go on their very first date - a walk through Minute Man National Historical Park in Lexington, MA. December 2021: Christina explores a different (and very brief) relationship. Kris wishes her the best. February 2022: Christina's relationship ended and she reaches back out to Kris since she couldn't get him off of her mind. Kris had found someone else. Christina returns the favor and wishes Kris the best. April 2022: Christina leaves to hike across the country on the Pacific Crest Trail. Kris checks in at mile marker 300. March 2023: Christina decides to focus on building her business, and stop dating for the foreseeable future. June 2023: Kris reaches back out to Christina, his relationship had ended and wanted to return the favor of the "reach out". July 8th 2023: Our second first date - a walk and picnic at Wachusett Reservoir. Christina has a sneaking feeling it was going to be her "last first date". October 12th, 2024: Kris asked Christina to marry him - the easiest "YES!" ever. November 2nd, 2025 - The Best Day E V E R

Kris and I met in November of 2021. He had just moved to Boston to start his PhD, and I had just learned how to use dating apps after a long-term relationship. Most of the dates I had were B O R I N G. So my expectations weren't high when I met "Tinder Kris" for a walk at Minute Man Historical National Park. I remember being absolutely FASCINATED with the way his mind worked when we walked and talked for hours. We played with the thought-experiment "what would you do if you had all the money in the world?". His answers told me so much about who he was, the way he saw the world, and what he valued. Kris wanted to bring all the brightest minds together to sit and THINK and create REAL solutions to the biggest problems - social and scientific - that we as society face today. Who does that?! We'd planned to go on another date given it was such a great conversation, but as it turned out, life had some lessons in store for me I still needed to learn. After our initial date, I ended up exploring a different relationship, and Kris respectfully wished me the best of luck. That relationship didn't last long, and as soon as things ended, I reached back out to Kris since he was the only date that had *really* captured my attention. (Big thank you to my mom for the encouragement on reaching back out to him!). And then HE had since found a relationship, and so I returned the favor, wishing him the best because he was a great guy. Then in April of 2022, off I went to hike across the country on the Pacific Crest Trail. I knew Kris was thoughtful from our initial date, so it was a kind gesture (and not surprising) for him to check in with me on my hike a handful of times to make sure I was enjoying myself and safe. [Kris does seem to have a keen sense for when I'm in trouble, and one of the times he reached out to me was right after we had to outrun some forest-fires!] Coming back from the trail I decided to go all-in with my own business and wanted to focus on building that instead of dating. In May of 2023, I went to a business retreat in Italy, where I was asked "what's missing from your life?". The first thing that popped to mind was "love". I spent a week thinking about the perfect partner for me and didn't think much of it beyond that. Less than two weeks later, Kris reached back out to me saying his relationship had since ended and asked if I remembered going back to invite him on a second date after my other relationship had ended. I remembered C L E A R L Y. We both had busy schedules and had to wait for nearly a month after he asked me out to actually go on our "second first date", a year and a half after our first. It was a blessing in disguise. We spent a month texting, calling and simply getting to know each other. I look back on that month and I'm so grateful for all the ways Kris showed me who he was before we reconnected in person. As I was driving to our "second first date" on July 8th, 2023 I captured my thoughts with a voice-vote to myself saying "I have a sneaky feeling this is going to be my last 'first' date ever" and I was right. On the day we reconnected, what surprised me the most was how tall he was!! Kris is 6'5" - that is ~noticeably~ tall!! And yet, the only thing I had remembered of him from our very first date was how genuine his heart felt, and how he made me feel. After playing a game of cosmic tag, I'm glad that everything has unfolded in such a perfect way. He's taught me more about trusting the process and knowing what's meant for me can't miss me...more than anything else ever has or will. INCLUDING that on our second date, a simple picnic at a local reservoir - a family walked by and a few minutes later the woman came back and asked US if she could take a photo for us because something told her it was a special moment. !!!!! Our love story started on November 21st, 2021, continues on November 2nd, 2025 and we're confident will last a lifetime❤️ ❤️

Kris knows that Christina loves hiking, and REALLY loves hiking in the fall. It's not something out of the ordinary, and not something that would raise much suspicion. Christina was the one that even planned the hike for that day! It was a very windy (and chilly) fall day, so our initial plans pivoted to accommodate the intense higher-summits forecast. We did a small local hike, one that Christina has done loads of times before. On October 12th, 2024 that familiar hike turned into the memory of a lifetime. In a moment of quiet connection, Kris asked me to spend his life with him. The easiest "yes" ever ❤️

The day we got engaged was a rollercoaster of a day for me. The morning didn’t go as planned for a few different reasons. One of which was that Kris and I had planned a 15 mile hike for me to revisit Mount Carrigain — a summit thats near and dear to my heart. I finished my list of 48 NH peaks on that summit and hadn't been back since. But the weather had other plans. The forecast was for 50 mph wind gusts and a windchill in the single digits. NOPE. Neither of us were prepared for that sort of weather, and even if we were - that sort of weather doesn't make for very fun hiking. So we pivoted and decided to do a small local hike I’ve done countless times thats about a 5 mile round trip instead. That particular morning, hiking was feeling really hard for me. Just one of those days where you question why you ever thought walking up a mountain should be put into the "fun" category anyway. I was tired, it felt like gravity was working overtime, I felt like I was getting sick, and I just couldn't find my hiking groove. My mind was somewhere else for most of the hike up, I didn’t feel very present. Kris asked me a few times if I was okay, and I gave some quiet responses but wasn’t my usual self. I had to convince myself to keep going, even though the small voice in my head was trying to get me to turn around and call it a day. So we took our time. We stopped and took a break at the world’s cutest overlook - complete with a little bench - and let ourselves rest and enjoy the view. Kris is always helping me slow me down to the present moment and take it all in. Part of me felt bad for feeling a little down that day. I wanted to enjoy the weekend and the foliage, and it wasn't hard to tell that my energy was off. The kind where it's noticeable and you're acutely aware you aren't the best company on those days. We sat and talked about a few of the things that were on my mind, and as always, Kris listened and loved me. I had my head on his shoulder, and told him that he was all I ever needed in life. WHAT A SOFTBALL!! He saw the opportunity and took it. He talked to me about the highs and lows of life, and how we get to do them together. And then he asked me the easiest question of my life. The moment I realized what was happening, I completely broke down and turned into a human puddle. Kris has been my greatest teacher of what it means to love somebody unconditionally — completely without conditions. He loves me when I’m on top of the world, and he's loved me when I’ve been at my lowest. He’s loved me when I’m smiling and silly, and he’s loved me when I’m upset and crying. He just LOVES me, no matter what. He didn’t propose on the day that I was my “best” in my eyes; and I love him even more for that. He proposed at the perfect spot, on the perfect day, at the perfect moment — in his perfect, perfect way. After collecting myself, finally saying "yes", and staring at my hand for the next ten minutes - I came back to Earth and asked him if anybody else knew it was happening? He told me that HE didn't even know he was going to propose that day!! He said he had always wanted me to be the first to know😂 - not my friends or my family (makes sense when you think about it). Kris thinks of me first, always and even this moment showed it. If I spread a fraction of the love he shows me every day, this will be a successful life for me. I love to love him, and can only hope to make him feel as loved as he makes me feel. I can't say that I've been someone to daydream about a ring, or a wedding - but living my life with Kris feels better than any daydream I could imagine. October 12th, 2024 will always be one of my favorite days of my entire life, with few that will beat it. I'm sure that November 2nd, 2025 will be one of them and we're so excited to have you there to celebrate with us!