The year: 2008

The place: Costa Rica

Juli doesn't remember the first time she met Ryan, but she does remember the second time they hung out, at a Chonchos de Monte concert in Monteverde. They talked of comic books, their favorite Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me panelists, and probably some other stuff. And thus a friendship was born (even though, let's be honest, Ryan was sort of into Juli by that point).

They returned to northern California to finish college (Juli at UC Berkeley, Ryan at UC Santa Cruz), and for some reason they decided to date other people. Still, they remained friends and went to concerts in Golden Gate Park, comic book signings, rum tastings, and even took a dip in the Bay one deceptively warm January morning (remember, they were young and slightly foolish). Ryan even came to Sveadal, played in the Renters vs. Owners basketball and baseball games, and learned to love pickled herring.

Eventually they came to their senses and, appropriately enough, had their first kiss outside Isotope, the best damn comic book shop in SF. They started dating, and a few months later Ryan moved to Nashville to start graduate school. Soon after, Juli joined him. They highly recommend moving to Nashville for any reason. Be sure to try the hot chicken.

By 2012, Juli had a masters in Museum Studies and Ryan had a masters in Paleontology. What next? Clearly, a move to Wyoming, was in order. There, Ryan started on his PhD at the University of Wyoming while Juli made murals for the geological museum. The two of them launched themselves into the great outdoors, and Juli discovered roller derby.

But then! Juli got a job at the Smithsonian Institution, and moved all the way to Washington, D.C. to work with fossils (even though there are plenty of perfectly good fossils in Wyoming). So there our love-birds were, torn apart by distance. But they loved each other, they'd learned much from their years together, and they knew how to use Skype, so they made it work.

By this point, Ryan had decided that it was high time they got engaged. So he laid a plan. He booked a holiday at a cozy cabin in the woods in West Virginia in the middle of winter (more romantic than it sounds). On Christmas Eve 2013, he set a ridiculously high bar by giving Juli a sloth necklace and a pair of sloth earrings. On Christmas morning, he topped it by presenting her with a ring. She, of course, was very awkward about it (this is why Ryan wisely had sequestered them in a cabin in the woods; you see, he knew her well). But fret not, for she said "yes!" They kicked off 2014 by telling their good news to all their friends and family, and there was much rejoicing.

With that, they promptly proceeded to forget about wedding planning for a full year.