Like a DC fairy tale, Todd and Kyra met because of their jobs. Todd likes to say he was Kyra's client, but the reality was a little more nuanced - and frankly much less intriguing. The first time they met, Kyra complimented Todd on a question he asked at a meeting -- of course, Todd remembers the exact compliment and Kyra just remembers that it happened. Todd says he should have known it was love then. Instead, he mostly reflected on how smart she (and, by extension, he) was. But it wasn't just each other's intellects they noticed. Todd noticed Kyra's smile and her fundamental kindness. Kyra noticed Todd's good nature and humor and she valued the way he treated the people around him. Those are the kinds of things that grow on you, little by little. And so it was that Todd invited Kyra to "non-work-related" drinks one Wednesday last year. And then he tagged along to a Jason Isbell concert with her that weekend. And then finally, belatedly, Todd worked up the nerve to ask her out on an "official" date.

We had been planning a trip to Hungary and Austria for months. The flight was long, and we were more than a little jetlagged, but we were determined to make the most of Budapest. So after a goulash feast and a visit to the famous Rudas Baths, we returned to the tiny loft we were renting in the old city. Kyra should have known something was up when Todd insisted on a staying up to split a nice bottle of wine on the terrace rather than going directly to bed. But as loopy and jetlagged as he might have been, one thing was clear to Todd: it was time to ask Kyra to be his wife. Todd has tried surprising Kyra before. Usually, whenever he prepares a speech, circumstance (or Kyra) intervenes to foil his plans. Like the first time Todd planned on saying "I love you" for weeks only to have Kyra spontaneously say it first. But this time everything just worked in its own special way.