We're getting married!

Adam and Kseniya met while at Boston College on a retreat called Kairos. It must have been fate, because the retreat was a selective lottery and it was the last weekend before Adam graduated college. Until then, they had not crossed paths on campus once! During some free time, they walked down to the Charles River and started to talk. They were enthralled by the conversation and lost track of time. In fact, because the retreat is designed for you to unplug and be present, they do not allow cell phones or watches. Before they knew it, hours had passed and the retreat coordinators went searching because they thought Adam and Kseniya had gone missing. Instead, they were really committing to the tenets of the retreat! Thankfully, they saved some dinner for the pair. Ever the romantic, Adam introduced Kseniya to his parents that same weekend when they were back on campus and made plans to reconnect after graduation.

Kseniya visited Adam's hometown of Marblehead briefly over the summer before embarking on her internship in Silicon Valley with hopes of beginning her career there. That summer, Adam made plans to visit Kseniya on the West Coast for her birthday. They took a trip to Carmel and Monterey to celebrate, where they fell in love with the beauty of the California coast, and with each other. On Kseniya's birthday on July 24th, 2014, they hiked Point Lobos State Park. While in awe of the cliffs, tide pools, and marine life at the park, Adam knew this was the right moment to ask Kseniya to be his girlfriend. The only problem was that Kseniya was moving quickly enjoying the landscape and Adam somehow needed to get her attention. "I have a question," he blurted. She stopped and turned around. With nerves mounting, he declared "be my girlfriend!" Not quite a question there, Adam. She replied "sure," and resumed her fast pace through the park. Minutes after this, Adam joyfully proclaimed "Isn't it great that your birthday is now also our anniversary?" Excited but slightly annoyed at the thought of sharing her birthday, Kseniya sarcastically replied "Do you think we'll last that long?" They celebrated each July 24th with the same running joke for 6 years.

On Adam's birthday, February 5th, 2021, he asked Kseniya to go for a walk in Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire, where they were spending winter weekends skiing. The walk would have seemed innocuous if it didn't require an early morning wakeup, driving in white-out conditions to get there, and an ask to look nice so we "could post a birthday picture on Instagram". With the snow softly falling, they admired the semi-frozen Basin at Franconia Notch. Adam handed Kseniya a note. He had transcribed the letter that he had written to her parents asking for her hand in marriage. When Kseniya looked up from the note, Adam was down on one knee. Her answer was unequivocally yes, but her response was "Thanks for evening the score with a new birthday-anniversary to celebrate". They had a new running joke throughout their 2 year engagement. They are delighted to get married in Carmel-by-the-Sea where our love story blossomed, to celebrate with their closest friends and family, and to finally have an anniversary that is not on either of their birthdays.