And so the adventure begins!

We first met in 2022 during my internship at the New York State Department of Transportation. Aleena had already been working there for a year, and I still remember the smile she gave me the day we were introduced. Over time, working together turned into truly getting to know one another. Somewhere along the way, I began to see her differently; her smile felt brighter, and her laugh more comforting. I knew there was something special about her, and I just needed to find the right moment to tell her. That moment came unexpectedly. While helping my sister with her trip to Glacier National Park, Aleena and I were on a voice call. What started as a quick conversation, eventually turned into us getting completely sidetracked; we scrolled through photos of the park and talked about our shared love for travelling, nature, and adventure. When she mentioned wanting to visit places like that someday, I took a chance and asked if she’d want to explore them with me. A few months later, we planned a trip to the Adirondacks to see the fall foliage. After a long hike, we found ourselves sitting on a quiet rock overlooking the mountains. I knew this was the moment I was going to tell her, and I said, "Aleena, getting to know you has been a wonderful experience, and I was hoping to get to know you more. Do you think you'd want to go out on a date to see where this leads?" She paused, looked at me, and said… “No.” But life has a funny way of working out. After much time passing, many conversations, and getting to know each other even more, we decided to give it a chance. And now here we are, grateful for every twist and turn in the journey, counting down the days until we say, “I do.” Thank you DOT, glaciers, and most importantly, my sister Marisa, for being the catalyst of the greatest thing to happen in our lives! We can’t wait to celebrate the beginning of our next chapter with all of our favorite people!