How does one find love 343.6 miles apart? Simple. Their friends find it for them.

It started, like all modern love stories, with a Slack message. Cara Pardee had been on the BD team at Twitch with James, and knew Mary was planning to join that team in December. She messaged both Mary and James separately telling them they had to date each other (later, when pressed as to why, she said "it's because you would have pretty blue eyed babies," but we like to believe she also sensed an inherent compatibility beyond shared eye color).

It escalated, as all great love stories do, at Disneyland. On a trip to the park with Zack Freeno and Nikki Bayani, her constant Disney companions, Mary asked if there were any eligible bachelors at Twitch in San Francisco. "Do you know James Reilman?" Zack asked, unaware Cara had already told Mary that he was the guy for her. Mary, remembering the question Meghan Markle asked of her friends when being set up with Prince Harry, asked "is he kind?" Zack responded "he's the nicest person you'll ever meet." Mary, remembering the question Meghan Markle most likely ACTUALLY asked her friends when being set up with Prince Harry, asked "is he rich?" Zack confirmed that he had recently purchased a condo in downtown San Francisco, and that sealed the deal.

It culminated, as all great love stories do, at company events involving alcohol (shoutout to our mutual bosses, who may or may not have read this far). First, with the team holiday party, where James asked Mary for opinions on interior design for his new condo (reader, she DID Zillow it later), and Mary charmed him in Matchmaker Maria green (IYKYK). On Mary's next trip to the Bay, James invited her to a Twitch Happy Hour, where after four glasses of rosé and lots of cajoling from the drag queen hosting karaoke (who was suitably impressed by James's rendition of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" complete with air guitar solo), Mary declared to James that she had a crush on him, and he said he knew. Six short months later, they went on their first actual date (James took some convincing).

Through many FaceTimes, flights, and long road trips, Mary and James fell in love (and said I love you for the first time after a rather disastrous day at Disneyland, which is still better than a fabulous day spent anywhere else). After TwitchCon San Diego, they took a few extra days in the city where Mary was born to tour the sites, and James asked Mary to move in with him while visiting the aviary at the San Diego Zoo. The Zoo is special to Mary since her dad worked there as a tour bus driver in college, so having it as part of their love story (and their wedding at the Safari Park), is extra special.

Despite different design aesthetics, like many differences in Mary and James's life, their home came together effortlessly, and life in San Francisco was quickly filled with movie outings with friends, weekend trips to wine country, and long walks with Holly, Mary's 11 year old chihuahua mix.

As they began discussing their future and shopping for rings, Cara came into play again, sending them to a shop across the street from Twitch that specialized in antique stones. There, Mary fell in love with a ring that mimicked Meghan Markle's, with three stones representing the past, present, and future. She was devastated a few weeks later to see it had sold, particularly when she had pointedly set up several photo shoots as prime opportunities for James to propose.

On a planned trip to Carmel By-The-Sea, James took Mary ring shopping to "make up" for the fact that her beloved ring had sold. Of course, it all turned out to be a ruse, as that evening, after a sunset beach picnic, with Holly by their side, James pulled out a box with THE ring, along with a cleverly hidden bottle of champagne, and popped the question.

Mary and James feel incredibly lucky to be surrounded by so much love, from family, friends, pets, and of course each other. Thank you to all of you for being an important part of making this love story a real life Happily Ever After.