Julie and Mark's relationship is a testament to the power of artificial intelligence. They met on OK Cupid while they were both attending graduate school at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York - Julie for Biomedical Engineering, and Mark for Law. Their first dates featured beautiful fall foliage, experimental ice cream flavors, post-season apple scavenging, and most importantly, hours and hours of conversation.

Before too long they were spending every moment they could spare together - Julie introduced Mark to rock climbing and Gilmore Girls, while Mark taught Julie about the wonders of a home-cooked meal. Between studies, Cayuga Lake wine tours, and chili festivals, the two of them continued to grow closer; within a month they had discussed "big" issues such as their last name if they were ever married, the existence of God, and most importantly, whether a Ben and Jerry's center "core" is actually an improvement to your average pint.

After dating for almost 4 months, Mark and Julie planned their first trip together - a road trip to go skiing in Vermont. Unknown to Mark, however, Julie had planned a surprise; as they were getting ready to pull out of the driveway, Julie pulled a guitar out of the trunk of the car and played him the song that she had somehow found the time to practice in secret to celebrate the first of many "month-iversaries" - Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours." On that trip they shared their first "I love you".

Both being sentimental saps, Mark and Julie enjoyed visiting their favorite Ithaca destinations many times while at Cornell, and to Julie's surprise, through a personalized town-wide scavenger hunt! Since then Mark continues to surprise Julie not only with scavenger hunts, but through making rainbow and Africa-inspired birthday cakes, and sending random heart emojis when they are apart.

Following their trip to Vermont, and inspired by Julie's recent completion of her goal to visit all seven continents, Mark applied to Cornell's study abroad program in hopes of getting to visit his second continent. As fate (with perhaps a slight thumb on the scales) would have it, he was accepted to study at the University of Cape Town in South Africa - the very same school where Julie would spend a year of her PhD! Thus, in August of 2016, Mark boarded his first international flight, and was soon joined by Julie in gorgeous South Africa. Together they experienced everything from penguin-covered beaches and mountaintop sunsets to almost hitting a lion with their rental car to riot-induced school shutdowns. The experience was incredible - and Mark was inspired to return to South Africa again post-graduation to study for the Bar Exam while Julie finished up her research abroad.

On the tail-end of their first international trip together, they decided to explore a couple of other countries together, and paid brief visits to Lesotho and Luxembourg before returning to the States.

Mark took the Bar Exam on his birthday in 2017 (don't worry, he did fine), and, as Julie had not yet been locked down to a long-term job yet either, the two of them decided that they were not yet done with traveling. They packed up a car, and set off on what in hindsight was perhaps the most relationship-testing activity they could have chosen- a months-long series of car-camping, national park-hopping road trips! Together, the two of them slept in 25 States, and saw a ton of what makes our country beautiful - from the Everglades in FL to the Grant Tetons in WY, and a whole lot in-between. On their journey down the East Coast (and back up again), they conducted a self-directed BBQ tour, complete with pictures and reviews - get excited, we'll be paying homage to that at our Wedding Reception.

Finally, after all of that traveling, Mark buckled down and found himself a job back in Washington as a Public Defender in Grant County. Julie, however, was not ready to be locked down quite yet, and secured a Fulbright Scholarship to work at a hospital in Tanzania doing medical research! Go Julie! For the next year, Julie taught in Arusha, TZ and conducted cardiovascular research in Mwanza, TZ.

Mark got to visit Tanzania this past spring, and together they visited Gombe National Park and observed Jane Goodall's chimpanzee troupe about a foot away.

Midway through her time in Tanzania, Julie came back for an extended visit with Mark over Christmas. Mark, saying that it was an anniversary surprise, came home from work one weekend with the car packed and ready to go for a ski trip. It was starting to snow on the way over, and as they drove towards the mountains the two of them listened to a playlist of music Mark had prepared that called back to various points in their relationship - Mango Groove (from the music festival in South Africa), Where You Lead (the theme song from Gilmore Girls), and of course some road-trip inspired country music. After a couple of hours, the two of them arrived in Leavenworth, Washington, a small town nestled into the Cascades that, thanks to its all-out Bavarian themed architecture and the fresh blanket of snow, felt like stepping into another world.

That evening, before going to bed and with the fireplace going, Mark told Julie that he had a surprise for her. He went out to the car, came back with a guitar, sang her a song he had learned in secret - I'm sure you'll hear it at the wedding - and proposed. Because he didn't have very much experience with this kind of thing, he even came prepared with two engagement rings - one for her, and one for him!

Julie and Mark and excited to invite you to return to Leavenworth with them to celebrate their relationship and the journey they have shared!

This past Christmas break, Julie was able to help her new sisters-in-law catch the "travel bug" with a "new family" trip to Vietnam and Taiwan!

Mark recently moved out to Delaware to join Julie, who is now working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware. They will be settling into a new house in Maryland this summer!

Julie Kohn and Mark Arand also found a solution to the "whose last name" problem, and are looking forward to sharing the last name of Karand together for the rest of their lives.