We owe it all to Bates. During our first year, Stephen was the nice boy from the Green Dot training, and Dayna was the girl in the Red Sox hat. That all changed by the time sophomore spring came around, and we found each other at the famous "Millennial" dance. After that night dancing to Bruno Mars in the library arcade, we spent much of our time together for the remainder of Short Term. At the end of that school year, we had to say our goodbyes, knowing that we would be going abroad in separate semesters for our junior year. Luckily, the time between goodbyes and seeing each other again was shorter than either of us thought, thanks to Stephen's dad, Kevin. Kevin let Stephen ditch him to meet up with Dayna for a McDonald's ice cream date (lol) on his last night in Maine before driving home to Maryland. During the fall of junior year, Dayna was at Bates while Stephen was studying in Ireland, and in the spring, Stephen was at Bates while Dayna was studying in New Zealand. Although still not technically together, we frequently kept each other updated on our adventures abroad despite time zone differences. If anyone ever needs the name of a florist in New Zealand, just ask Stephen! The summer before senior year, while visiting Madison in Sea Isle City, NJ, Stephen officially asked Dayna to be his girlfriend with a necklace that had a blue crab on it (affectionately earning him the title "crab man") as a nod to his home state. We enjoyed our last year at Bates together, sharing Commons meals and cheering each other through senior thesis and lacrosse games.

After Bates, Dayna started teaching in Westport, Connecticut, while Stephen moved to South Boston. During our first year of doing long distance, COVID came along, complicating weekend visits. Thankfully, remote work allowed weeklong visits instead. Two years after graduating from Bates, we both began graduate school at the same time: Dayna at the University of Maine and Stephen at the University of Delaware. We were able to visit each other almost every month thanks to the early morning Portland to BWI Southwest flights. In between our visits, FaceTime study dates worked well, except for the time Dayna fell asleep on Stephen while he was practicing a presentation late at night. Our four years of long-distance came to an end when we moved in together after completing our respective grad school programs in the spring of 2023. After being long-distance for so long, we love living together in Roslindale, MA. Over Thanksgiving weekend 2024, we had something new to be thankful for when we got engaged, surrounded by our loved ones. Now, we are so excited to be planning our wedding, and can't wait to celebrate with you! The rest of the website has everything our dearest family and friends will need to plan your trip to Boothbay Harbor in June 2026.