Our story began in September 2007 when the higher powers of high school class scheduling placed Maggie and Mark together in 1st block English 10 and Making of the Modern World. In that class, after a public speaking assignment where Mark ranted on Slow Walkers, and Maggie ranted on Camping, nobody could have guessed that these two would have ever ended up together.

Fast-forward to Junior year where the two crossed path daily at the hockey rink. Mark played goalie for the boy's team and Maggie was a forward on the girl's team.

Mark and Maggie's first date was on March 1st 2009. Mark was fresh off a D1 State Championship win so naturally he had invited Maggie to go skating. The two met up at the Hinesburg town rink where they skated and talked for over two hours. Maggie was enjoying herself so much that she never mentioned how cold her fingers were! (Mark didn't learn that until years later!)

College brought the two to Boston where they had a "friendly" competition between BC and Northeastern. After graduating, the pair moved to Cambridge where they lived happily until Mark received a job he could just not turn down in DC. After 8 months of long-distance Maggie joined Mark in DC in July 2016.

As most people close to the Ryans know, a summer is not complete without a trip to Cuttyhunk island. Over the years Mark had learned how special Cuttyhunk is to Maggie and thought that there was no other place to pop the question. In the waning hours of August 1st, Mark and Maggie took a walk to a popular island lookout. With nobody else around, Mark got down on one knee and Maggie, excitedly, said yes! They basked in the moment together and returned to the house to share the exciting news with the rest of the family!