We were introduced through a mutual friend, Xochil. We both attended Air & Style snowboarding festival one Sunday in February 2016. Ksenia attended with Xochil and her then-roommate, Shally. Xochil also invited Mark, whom she knew from high school and had recently re-connected with. We spent the night dancing and singing to Kaskade, and Mark even won a dancing contest! After Kaskade's set ended, Mark asked Ksenia and Shally if they wanted to stay until the end of the night and offered (and delivered) them a ride home.

It was not until the end of next month that Mark reached out asking Ksenia out... and we ended up going to Bernie Sanders' rally for our first informal date (how Berkeley of us?). We went on to have a proper first date at Johnny Rockets and movies shortly after, and shared our first kiss at Coachella 2016. Since then, we have attended many festivals and live shows, traveled around the U.S. and the world, quarantined together in Ksenia's apartment during COVID lockdown (and made the best out of it), briefly lived out of an RV that we flipped and worked remotely from Costa Rica and Mexico. Whether it's a fun trip or a lazy day at home, we enjoy being in each other's company and look forward to more adventures together in the future.

As Mark explored proposal ideas, he learned that his grandpa proposed on Catalina Island, where Mark's parents had also spent their honeymoon. To seal the deal, Mark's past client, who is a private flight instructor, had previously offered to fly Mark and Ksenia to Catalina as a thank-you. We flew to Catalina on a warm, sunny morning of October 2, 2021 and had a lovely day exploring the island. Later on, Mark walked Ksenia to what he said was a "sunset dinner." As we walked, we stopped by Step Beach to take a picture. Moments after, the proposal speech had begun. Mark then dropped on one knee, reached for his pocket and pulled out a coupon Ksenia had made for him as a Valentine's Day gift in 2018. The coupon read, "A yes day - I say yes to all your requests." As Ksenia was reading the coupon, Mark pulled out the ring and asked her to marry him, to which she replied with an enthusiastic "Yes!"