Simon and Sisi met at the University of Oregon in 2016, 6 months after Sisi had moved to Oregon for college. They had many mutual friends but hadn't crossed paths yet as he was two grades above her. One late February night, at a popular college hangout pub called Agate Alley, Simon went up to Sisi and her friend she was with that night to say hello and introduce himself. Afterward, Sisi invited him to go rock climbing and they continued to hang out for months - going on adventures, getting to know one another, and supporting each other through ups and downs. They finally decided to make it official that April and have been best friends ever since.

After being together for over 6 years, Sisi decided to ask Simon to marry her - nervously & excitedly. They were planning on going on a holiday to Italy for Simons's 30th birthday & Sisi had a surprise mini-birthday trip planned within it. But it was actually a surprise proposal trip! They flew to the island of Sardinia, where the Mediterranean Sea is warm, clear, & turquoise, & the beaches are composed of fine white sand. They walked half an hour to a quiet beach protected from the westerly winds that were blistering that day to swim for the first time on that trip. When they were going to leave after swimming & soaking in the sun, Sisi asked Simon to sit down because she had something she wanted to talk to him about. They sat cross-legged facing each other & she took out a wooden box & handed it to him. He opened it & said, "of course!" Then, he reached into Sisi's bag, pulled out a ring of his own, and asked her to marry him! He had also been planning on proposing, to Sisi's complete surprise. They had organically chosen that day & that beach to propose to each other without knowing it.