We met nearly nine years ago — fall semester 2015 during a study abroad term in Copenhagen. We were flatmates before we even became friends, though we became friends quickly. We spent the semester exploring Copenhagen and traveling around Europe together, to Budapest, Berlin, Stockholm, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. We even made it to Lapland, Finland.

Upon returning from Denmark, we spent several months taking turns driving across the desert from Tempe, AZ to San Diego, CA (5.5 hours, if you’re curious) to spend weekends together, before deciding there was really something there, and making the relationship official.

After nearly two years of Tempe-to-San Diego long distance, we got to spend a year together in the Bay Area before Danielle left for graduate school in Boston. And so the long-distance began again, now a 6 hour flight instead of a 6 hour drive. This time, though, it was much shorter-lived, as COVID’s arrival meant remote work and remote school. Our pandemic-silver-lining was being able to be together in both Boston and the Bay Area for extended stretches of time.

And now, hopefully our days of long distance are behind us! We have been living in D.C. since October 2021, and loving every minute of it.

We are so fortunate to have already lived in and traveled to so many places together. We don’t know where life will take us in the next 5, 10, or 50 years, but we can’t wait to get there together.