Connor and Kennedy met their freshman year at UC Davis when they were both hired as campus tour guides in winter 2017. They both spent that winter enjoying/ struggling (one of them had a good time doing it, the other...) to memorize an 18 page script of UC Davis facts. Come spring quarter, they had become fast friends and spent many afternoons together at the Rec Pool. This was Connors single worst academic quarter at UC Davis, but he just could not seem to pass up each opportunity to go to the Rec pool with Kennedy (dont worry; he did not fail any classes, but there may have been one close call). Kennedy, on the other hand, had one of the best quarters of her academic career, though she may or may not have been trying to impress a certain studious, brown-eyed Bio major.

Fast-forward to the summer before their senior year, and Kennedy & Connor spent the whole summer sending memes back and forth and texting every single day... until Connor walked off into the woods with some fraternity brothers for 10 days. By the time he returned to civilization, he had a sad excuse of a mustache and a determination to win her over (spoiler: she didnt take much convincing). They reunited in Davis shortly after in mid-September, and the rest is history. Despite COVID-19 cutting their senior year short and moving back home shortly after graduating to their respective hometowns, theyve been inseparable ever since.

December 16th started out as most Saturdays do for Connor & Kennedy - lattes and a walk around the San Diego Zoo. Later that day would be the Heinzman family’s famous annual Christmas block party (if you know, you know; if you dont know... time to start fishing for an invitation), and just before that, the two were scheduled to model in a photoshoot for a friend’s small business. Kennedy was highly suspicious of this set up, but, thanks to some fantastic acting and strategic diversion by their closest friends, when the day came, she didn’t suspect a thing.

They arrived at Harbor Island right at sunset, and, with a golden downtown San Diego as the backdrop, Connor popped the question. The two celebrated with their closest friends over a picnic curated carefully by their best friends. Afterwards, they headed over to the Heinzman house for a Christmas-extravaganza-turned-surprise-engagement party, where they celebrated all night long (until Connors scheduled bedtime of 10pm) with their families under thousands of Christmas lights.

Earlier that day as they drank coffee and watched red pandas chase one another through bamboo trees, Connor casually asked Kennedy what had been the best day of her life so far. It’s safe to say that December 16th has since then replaced her answer (though it’s got some big competition coming up (Padres vs. Angels World Series 2024?)).