Our story began in Physiology class at the University of Washington, taught by the great Mary Pat Wenderoth (our favorite Professor ever!). After locking eyes before our first in-person exam back after Covid, there was an immediate spark.

The next day, in lab class, after picking our favorite animals as an icebreaker exercise, each of our group leaders shared that our favorite animal was an otter. This was a seemingly insignificant event, yet we both took great interest in it! (The birthplace of the otters Ruby drew for our save the dates.)

The following day, Sebastian caught up to Ruby after class and started a conversation with her. This moment is our official meeting moment, which happened to take place on 2/2/22 at 2:22pm. Sebastian's favorite number and his jersey number playing sports throughout his life was always 22, a coincidence that we came to adore.

It was written in the stars.

Our first date took place on a Friday night. Sebastian casually invited Ruby to go down to the University Village with him since Ruby was "kicked out" of her apartment by her roommate for an event that night. Sebastian compared it to the first time Harry Potter met Dobby, when Harry was locked in his room and "kicked out" of the house for the Dursley's dinner with co-workers. The date went great, and we ended up getting toilet paper together from QFC (how romantic, right??). Afterward, we had dinner at a pizza place, and to Sebastian's dismay, Ruby snuck her card to the waiter, who she knew from high school, to pay for the meal before Sebastian had a chance to.

Finally, we walked back up to campus and stood a street corner to talk for multiple hours while the world went by. Our night only ended because poor Ruby was freezing in the cold February air. On her way home, Ruby called her mom and excitedly told her that she made a "friend".

After only 2 short weeks, yet numerous (seriously, numerous) hours spent studying together, taking photos, attending classes, and more, it was time to make it official. Sebastian was scrambling last minute (very unlike him) to find a nice place to take Ruby to dinner, but everywhere seemed to be booked up. In a last-ditch effort, he made a phone call to Seattle's highest-rated restaurant with the most 5-star reviews, which resulted in a successful booking for dinner at 9:30 pm. The Pink Door, now our favorite restaurant, gave us the most incredible Valentine's Day night, and our first-ever photo together shot on a Polaroid camera. Since then, we have returned each year for Valentine's Day dinner at the Pink Door, and are on their VIP list after 4 years in a row!

Later that night after dinner, Sebastian presented Ruby with a gift basket containing seeds for her favorite flowers (Zinnias), a flower pot with the writing: "To my 1 in 52!" (pronounced 52 factorial), and our first stuffed animal: Sam, a gray elephant. Our relationship was now official!