We met at a high school party at which the couples were separated from the singles, banished to the basement. Through their mutual friend Elliot, Sean came with his very cool friends, and Tegan with hers, and soon enough we locked eyes on that carpeted basement floor, both of us knowing there was something there - a spark? After that, we became friends first and foremost, sharing lots of laughs, lots of memories, and maybe possibly holding hands at a haunted house. There was always a bubbling magnetism underscoring our friendship, and eventually, after several ✨solo hangouts✨, we finally decided that we really just couldn't pretend that we weren't more than friends, and on January 3rd, 2014, we DTR'd. (To show our age for a moment, Tegan asked if she could update her relationship status on Facebook) Sean was eventually accepted to SAIC, and we made the decision that we wanted to stay together, despite the distance. We endured four years of long-distance-relationshipping between Boulder and Chicago, but we made sure to schedule frequent trips, alternating travelers, ensuring that we wouldn't have to go too long without seeing each other in-person. Many late airport nights and Frontier Airlines horror stories later, we finally hit the home stretch and Sean graduated, returning home. We made it work! During this time, in 2017, we also adopted Nemo, the best boy in the world. This, too, was love at first sight, after discovering him on the Humane Society website and subsequently adopting him the next day after he sat on our laps on the floor. In 2019, we moved into our first apartment together, where we got through COVID with board games, baking, and plants. On the day of our 10th anniversary, Sean ran an "anniversary errand" in the morning to secretly pick out an engagement ring, and held onto it without a solid plan besides waiting for the right moment. In May, we planned an anniversary / post-Tegan-graduation trip to Rome, only about 4 weeks before leaving. Tegan silenced the thoughts in her mind that Sean might propose (after all, he would be stupid not to), and after 3 days of incredible food and sightseeing, we spent June 21st walking through Galleria Borghese, walking from Villa Borghese to the Spanish Steps to Isola Tiberina. We took an authentic pasta making class with Veronica and 2 other couples and ate the single best meal (bruschetta, 3 pastas, affogato) we've ever had. After some very Italian wine portions, we decided to walk back nearly 3 miles to our hotel, laughing like idiots the whole way there. It was the perfect day - moment alert! Getting back to the hotel, we decided to head to the rooftop for some Aperol Spritzes, and Sean decided that the time was now, and he excused himself to the restroom. He grabbed the ring (hidden in a discrete Nintendo DS case in his bag), enlisted hotel staff for covert photography and champagne, and got back to the roof and got on a knee. He then forgot what to say, and after a gentle reminder from Tegan, she said yes.