Ring in the New Year with Us!

Our journey began at St. Olaf College, where fate brought us together during the second half of freshman year. It all started one late night outside Hoyme Hall when Alissa playfully interrogated Thomas, not believing he was a St. Olaf student. From that moment, a spark was ignited, even if we didn’t quite realize it at the time. As we kept running into each other through mutual friends and occasional late-night chats, our connection deepened. By junior year, after Alissa returned from her semester in Copenhagen, we officially became a couple. A few notable adventures together included an interim in the Bahamas, living next door to each other with all our best friends senior year, and a spring break road trip to Florida.   After graduation, Thomas focused on research at Mayo while applying to medical schools, and Alissa began her Consulting career in the Twin Cities. In July 2019, Thomas moved to Omaha for medical school, while Alissa stayed in MN. Despite her claims of never moving to Nebraska, our relationship flourished with frequent visits. While we were technically long-distance, we still made plenty of great memories during this chapter of life, from simply spending time together when we could, to numerous trips with friends across the U.S. and traveling to Italy.  The pandemic even led us to spend several months together, working and studying remotely at Thomas’ family cabin in Nisswa, MN—an unexpected silver lining.   Our next chapter took us to Phoenix, AZ where we basked in the sun! We golfed, hiked, lived it up in Scottsdale, and went on several road trips – Vegas, LA and Utah to name a few. We attended many concerts and sporting events, soaked up pool days, and enjoyed spending time with friends both old and new. Thomas studied, too.   A year later, we moved to Washington, D.C., where we embraced the cultural scene.  We explored museums and monuments, attended various concerts and sporting events, indulged in seafood at the Wharf and made new friends while Thomas worked as a research fellow at the NIH. Our adventures have been endless as we explored these cities together, always finding joy in the simplest moments but also taking advantage of whatever comes our way. That year we were even able to travel to Greece with family and Mexico with friends—two unforgettable back-to-back trips.  After a year in D.C., we returned to Phoenix to wrap up Thomas’ final year of medical school, all while Alissa was able to continue working remotely.  While we enjoyed all the same activities in AZ we mentioned above, that year we also got to spend a memorable month living in San Francisco while Thomas participated in an away rotation.   Now, we’re back in Rochester, MN, cherishing time with family and friends as we prepare for our next exciting adventure. We’re thrilled to get married and make one more move to Boston, where we’ll dive into East Coast life—filled with history, seafood, restaurants and sporting events. As we continue our lifelong adventure together, our hearts are full of love and excitement for all that lies ahead, and we can’t thank you all enough for being here to celebrate with us!