His Side: When I decided to earn my MBA, I expected to leave Notre Dame with some new friends, a little knowledge, and a fancy degree. I definitely did not expect to find a soulmate in the middle of Indiana. However, on the first day of orientation I saw Stephanie and thought to myself, “She’s cute. I’m going to talk to her for as long as I can.” So I got her number on the pretense of inviting her to bar trivia the next time a group went. And when Stephanie signed up for the MBA program’s flag football team, I ‘happened’ to have already signed up as well. Her Side: I remember meeting Tom on the first day as he was sitting at the same table where I immediately embarrassed myself by making a classmate’s kid cry by accidentally taking his seat. After this great start, I was nervous who would want to talk to me while we walked around on the campus tour, but luckily Tom joined me in the line and we struck up an easy conversation. We chatted the whole time about the things we had in common like a love of the outdoors, time spent living abroad, and an enjoyment of bar trivia. At the end of that day we swapped numbers and he said he would let me know when he and his roommates went out later that evening for a pub quiz night at the local dive. He never did let me text me that evening when they went out...which I still remind him to this day. Nevertheless, after a few weeks of sharing most of our classes together and being on the same sports teams I started to get the feeling that this Tom guy might be someone special. It also didn’t hurt that several of our mutual friends decided to play match maker to help move the relationship along. What really sealed the deal was seeing how great Tom was with my pup Gogi and he quickly got her blessing as doggie-dad material.

His Side: As much fun as we had in the first year of school, South Bend doesn’t offer much in the way of outdoor adventure. We decided to celebrate the end of classes by going on a cross country road trip to visit national parks and family in California before starting our summer internships. Georgevits family trips involve pre-dawn starts, high mountain peaks, and heavy packs so I knew that if Stephanie was going to join my family, she would need to come on some Type II fun with us. We made plans to join my family on a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon that May. After 11 hours, 22 miles, and 14,000 feet of elevation loss and gain, our group emerged from the canyon victorious and Stephanie had earned the Georgevits family seal of approval. Her Side: First of all, I think most people can agree this is an unusual way to get to know a family you had only met once before. I was secretly terrified I would not be able to keep pace on this hike and the family would be stuck waiting for me for hours on the other side of the canyon. Thankfully with Tom by my side, we all made it out of the canyon alive and closer than when we went in. Tom also introduced me to rock climbing and got me out that summer climbing on real rock for the first time. He has always been a patient teacher with me for this sport he has been doing his whole life that he happens to be really, really good at. The more involved I have gotten in climbing, the more I understand where his passion comes from and am grateful that this has become something we can share together. Even though Tom often brings me to the brink of my comfort zone, I wouldn’t have it any other way. After being able to survive multiple cross-country car trips, working together in Haiti, and numerous international adventures I knew when I got a job offer in San Francisco I wanted Tom to join me there after school ended. Luckily, between his family being nearby and the proximity to Yosemite it didn’t take too much convincing.

His Side: After settling in Oakland and enjoying all the Bay Area has to offer, it wasn’t long before we were eager to tick another place off our bucket list. Seeing the Northern Lights had always been a dream of Stephanie’s, so we made plans to visit Iceland in January and I made plans to pop the big question. I saw one picture of a glacier and ice cave we could hike to and knew it would be the perfect place to ask Stephanie to marry me. When we arrived at the guide shop on the morning of the glacier hike, I snuck away to hatch a plan with the guide. After hiking out on the glacier, the guide told everyone we would be coming to the ice cave soon, and suggested we divide into two groups to explore the different parts of the cave. He pointed to Stephanie and I and suggested we should be the first to check out the entrance. After posing for a casual picture or two, I got down on one knee, and while I can’t be sure, I think I told Stephanie she is the best adventure buddy I could ever hope for, and would she marry me. Her Side: I had a sneaking suspicion that Tom had some plans for this trip but was trying to just enjoy the experience of being in Iceland together. We had already been there for almost a week so I didn’t think anything of that morning when we put on our heavy boots and crampons to explore the glacier. Tom’s phone actually died at some point on the hike from the cold air so thankfully mine had a little bit of life in it when the guide asked if we wanted a picture together. As we posed together with this beautiful landscape behind us, I saw Tom move around to my right and get down on one knee. The rest is a blur but when I watched the video later I can see that I end up kneeling with him on the ground from laughter, partly out of shock but mostly out of joy. I had known for a while that Tom was the person I wanted to share the rest of my life with so answering “yes” was one of the easiest decisions I have ever made.