Our loves story continues...

The tale begins more than a few years ago in an MSU art class in Bozeman, where two Montana kids bonded over their love of sarcasm and scribbles. Alaine noticed Steve's wicked sense of humor immediately, and Steve enjoyed Alaine's sparkling eyes. Friendship and comfortable companionship grew over two years, culminating in too subtle texts and tentative invitations - that *neither* of them picked up on - until... Italy. We (switching to first person because that felt weird) both had the luck of studying abroad for a semester together in 2014, exploring the many ruins and museums in the land of romance; eventually, the covert flirting became painfully obvious, even for us. A red rose in Florence turned into a first kiss in Rome, a first date in Paris, and finally realizing that this could be something big in Barcelona. After getting back stateside, we began Real Life together. With the addition of our well-dressed tuxedo kitty, Ernie, we continued to grow with and beside each other. Even in the hard times, as long as we were together, we knew we could laugh our way through anything. The siren call of the city drew us to Seattle in 2019, just in time to spend a global pandemic in an apartment the size of a shoebox (*if that didn't break us, nothing will!), and it has been a wild ride since. We found ourselves with another disgruntled ball of fluff named Oscar as well as a great community. As the years went by, and it became clear that we were Forever, it was time to make it official. On June 12th, Stephen made Alaine the happiest woman in the world when he asked her to marry him. She, of course, started crying immediately and ecstatically said yes. It was perfect. We were in a boat in the middle of Lake Union with an incredible picnic, followed by bubbles and oysters. This kicked off a summer of celebrations the likes this couple has never seen! Thank you all, the love and joy have been off the charts! Which brings us to now, as we write this, with both cats on either side, eagerly awaiting our wedding day. We can't wait to share the magic with our dear ones, cheers to July 2025!