We are firm believers in doing things that will one day make a good story. Oftentimes, a good story includes some obscurity and some laughter. The stories we have chosen to share are not going to always be perfect and pretty, but they will be genuine and full of love.

In November of 2018, Laura rejected Marc when he asked her on a coffee date because she was in tech week of a production of Hair, and he told her that he wanted to come see the production. Laura's friends were at the show the same night, and Laura was more nervous than she had ever been on stage before. After the show finished its run, Marc again invited Laura on a date. He made her dinner, and together, they watched History of the World: Part 1. As we reflect, we realize that it is a very odd first date movie.

Laura was completing her student teaching experience during their first Valentine's Day, and as a result, she spent Valentine's Day at her night job making coffee at the Barnes and Noble Cafe. She had promised her school that she would bring butter for a baked potato bar that was happening the next day, but she did not have enough time to stop at the store to pick up butter. She asked Marc to buy some butter and deliver it to her work, and when he arrived, he had both butter and a small flower in his hands. Laura thanked him and asked about the plant, and Marc said that he was happy to help her out when she needed it, but he felt weird just bringing her butter on their first Valentine's Day. That plant has survived everything and is still thriving and propagating to this day.

Marc had a beautiful day planned on the day of the engagement. The couple woke up, made breakfast together, and spent the day preparing for the first time they would get to see the Phipps holiday lights at night despite being members for the last 3 years. When they went to Phipps, Marc tried to find the perfect spot where they could find an employee to take some pictures of their fun date. Unfortunately for them, they were walking behind a group of very agitated parents who were yelling at a group of very excited children, and the scene was less than romantic. They finally diverged, and Marc found a spot that would be great to "take pictures." He approached a couple and asked for them to take pictures, and the photographer cleaned the camera and repositioned them multiple times to get the best angle. He took a few pictures and then knew it was time to switch to video mode and capture the whole moment. Laura is still convinced that Marc hired him, because his situational awareness was just too good.

Laura and Marc want to visit as many national parks as possible, and for Laura's 27th birthday, they went to Shenandoah for their first one. Everything was going smoothly until they arrived at the park. The bathrooms at the campsite were broken, so they needed to use portable bathrooms for their entire 4 day stay. The camp store had closed 5 minutes before, and since it had rained the night before, they couldn't use any firewood that people had left behind. They arrived at their site and set up their tent, and then they realized that they had no way to inflate their air mattress and were going to have to sleep on the ground. It was getting dark, so they decided to turn on their lantern and start dinner. Their lantern was broken and their camp stove was at home. They had a wonderful meal of prepackaged Indian meals from Trader Joe's and went to bed early since they couldn't see anything. That night, it thunder stormed.

The trip went uphill from there. They solved all of the problems they experienced the previous night (except for the bathrooms), hiked longer than they planned to, and visited Yorktown for more than just an excuse to visit an REI.