Our love story is surrounded by chance encounters. It started in the dorms freshman year at the University of Minnesota. It was Halloween weekend and Chris was dressed as a trucker with a killer handlebar mustache reading poetry to a group of girls in the hall outside his room (which had nothing to do with his costume), and Kim was coming back to the dorm after a concert. Despite Chris clearly oozing charm, it was not love at first sight.

Though through mutual friends, we started spending time together and learned we had a lot in common. Sharing the same taste in music and competitive spirit, we became pretty inseparable. After some sound late night advice from a mutual friend, Chris convinced Kim to put a label on it. He also faked needing scissors the next day just so he could make sure Kim was still on board. The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long. For our unrepentant young love, that meant two breakups and a solid three years apart. We thought we were done for good. Kim would go on to date a series of Chris’, trying to capture that original je ne sais quoi, or je ne sais Chris, as she definitely always says. As for Chris, he would surround himself with female friends (nothing scandalous here, he just has a surprising amount of female friends), also searching for that je ne sais Kim. While we both thought we had our separate paths forward, the universe had other plans.

Unbeknownst to either of us, we ended up living two blocks away from each other in Uptown following graduation and had another chance encounter outside our neighborhood dive bar. We were both adjusting to adult life and started hanging out for happy hours to commiserate over our boring jobs. Chris, with college degree in hand, worked at the Costco food court while Kim shredded top secret documents for a myriad of corporate ne’er-do-wells. Love rekindled and during an afternoon at La Crosse’s Oktoberfest, Chris asked “So are we boyfriend and girlfriend?”, and Kim couldn’t think of any other label for the person you frequently hang out with, buy extravagant dinners for, smooch at the end of dates, and travel to La Crosse under the guise of ‘really wanting to see what Oktoberfest is like’. As they say, the 3rd time's the charm. Here we are more than 16 years later, two college kids who found their favorite person and the universe made sure they didn’t screw it up.

Reunited and it felt so good. By Halloween, we were using those three little words again. In May of 2009 during a camping trip, Chris brought up the idea of moving in together. In a gazebo along the Root River Trail, Chris and Kim would agree to the next stop in their adventure.

Chris, with Gus the cat in tow, moved in with Kim in her South Minneapolis home. Kim’s dog Bambi was very welcoming to her two new roommates. We each had a pet to call our own, but we knew in order to complete the family, we needed a pet that was ours together. Enter our sweet buddy boy, Jackson.

A lot of memories and milestones were made in the four years in South Minneapolis, including Kim going back to Wisconsin for two years for grad school. Chris would also begin working at his alma mater while Kim was in Wisconsin. Before we knew it, Kim was back in Minneapolis. Now that we had our family back together, it was time for Kim to give up her house so we could find our home.

It’s been more than 11 years since our move across town to Northeast Minneapolis, and milestones and memories have continued at a rapid pace. Kim put her master’s degree to work in the school counseling office, but eventually found her way to work at the University of Minnesota. Yes, we met at the U of M and now we both work there.

Over the years we had to say goodbye to our starter fur family. They will always be a part of this home and these hearts. Chris was ready to wait 5 years until the next pet. Kim made it about 5 months. Along came Benny, our little troublemaker, snuggle butt, and all around goofball. He has made our family feel complete again. Today we love spending time going to live theater and concerts, checking out the ever changing restaurants of the neighborhood, and taking Benny on walks, camping, and other extended adventures.

We have shared so many memories, good times, and challenges. We know that as long as we are together, we are always ready for the next adventure that comes along.