Freshman year, fall of 2009: With friends in common, they naturally found themselves in the same circles around Seattle Pacific University. Liz remembers meeting Zach while eating Subway in the Hill Hall lobby. She thought, "He seems cute and nice. Maybe we will be friends!" Later that year, 2009: One of them (probably Zach) came up with the idea to make "coffee brittle". You might not be surprised to learn that their first time hanging out was for a cooking project! The results were a bit embarrassing looking back; they didn't know anything about tempering chocolate and this wasn't a very good concept in the first place (ground coffee beans mixed with melted chocolate and cooled on a sheet). But hey, they were 18 years old, and this was a nice way to start a friendship. Junior year, 2012: Their friendship grew as they did those college kinda things together. They started rock climbing, rode bikes around town, studied late into the night, walked the Queen Anne hills, cooked soup and pumpkin molasses cookies. Summer, 2013: After college, they took a road trip. Seven thousand miles on the road together; they drove and talked for hours and days at a time. They went on some hikes, explored some cities, found some good breweries and visited some friends, went to a wedding and a concert. But mostly they drove and asked each other a lot of questions. At one point, Zach asked Liz, "if you had to pick someone to marry right now out of everyone you know, who would you pick?" Liz thought for a minute, and said, "This is a little funny to say, but I think I'd pick you. I mean, we're not in love, but at least we know we could have a good, functional life together." What kind of friendship was this, where they could spend 14 days in a car together (most of that time literally in the car) and get back home with no awkward expectations and still enjoy each other's company? They didn't know, but they knew it was special. The next several years, 2013-2020: What else is there to say? They were great friends. During these years, they shared some vacations with the Mungers and Thanksgivings at the Berg's house, they had some mountain adventures and misadventures, they became much better cooks, they dated other people. Their friendship was closer at some times than others (and almost ended on that terrible trip to NYC), but by this point the care they had for each other was deep and long-lasting. Spring, 2020: For the first time since college, Zach and Liz found themselves both single. COVID was in full swing, and they became each other’s main social circle. Eventually, the obvious happened: they started talking about how compatible they were as friends and the trajectory of their relationship. The idea of a different kind of relationship began coming up in conversations. They started dating. The next two years: Zach and Liz fell in love. They learned about sacrificing for each other. They made hard decisions together and supported each other in the best ways they knew how. They learned how to support each other better. They built a life with a foundation that could last forever. In May of 2022, on the top of Mount Hood, Zach asked Liz to marry him, and she agreed. And now! They will be married.