Caitlin grew up on the East Coast. Zach grew up on the East Coast. Naturally, they met in New Zealand. Both studying abroad in Wellington, Caitlin had traveled from university in London; Zach had come from Berkeley. Between them, they covered approximately 15,000 miles to end up in the same dorm building at the same welcome event, where Zach introduced himself by asking if anyone wanted to get in line for a hot dog. Caitlin said yes. Zach said great. The hot dog was fine. They clicked immediately, bonding over a shared passion for the great outdoors and groan-inducingly bad puns. What followed was a whirlwind romance conducted on a college budget, which is a romantic way of saying they spent a lot of quality time being slightly unwashed in scenic locations. For their first official date, Zach took Caitlin to an Asian fusion restaurant she'd been dying to try. A very thoughtful gesture, and also, it would later come out, an act of quiet heroism, given that Zach was allergic to half the menu. Caitlin, not to be outdone, would later return the favor by accompanying Zach to the butcher on multiple occasions despite her deep-seated fear of raw meat. Two people, quietly suffering for the other's meal. If that's not love, we don't know what is. Here we are, eight years later. After surviving a year of long distance, Caitlin made the decision to pack up and move across the Atlantic (and then some) to California. We've since settled into San Francisco, acquired a dog, and built the kind of sprawling, mish-mashed community of friends and family that has become the beating heart of our life together. We've also never really stopped traveling: road trips up and down the Western US, Australia, Central America, Europe - still very much the same two people who once happily wandered the South Island on a shoestring, now with slightly nicer luggage. We can't wait to celebrate with all of you.