While many of you were part of this story, we wanted to share a glimpse here.

In the Fall of 2017, we met outside our first class at Notre Dame. Calculus. It might not have been the most romantic of places (the dingy basement of Hayes Healy), but it completely changed the course of our lives.

From that day onward, we were best friends and took most of our classes together. We spent countless hours together, as friends. After four years of memories, we graduated and moved across the country from each other.

As John had settled into his new apartment in Seattle, Washington, he invited Steff to visit before her job started in Chicago. That was the first flight of many as we decided to start a long distance relationship that weekend: Steff in Chicago and John in Seattle. After a year of racking up airline miles, Steff arrived in Seattle with all her belongings, ready to embark on the next adventure—building a life together.

After a couple years living in the "cool neighborhood" Capitol Hill, we moved into our current apartment in Green Lake.

On the morning of August 16, 2024, John proposed in our perfect, albeit small, Greenlake apartment. The proposal was the perfect start to the best weekend of our lives—we celebrated with our closest friends and family, from toasting at our favorite brewery to playing in a pickleball tournament, all leading up to an unforgettable engagement party.

If you're still reading, we're so glad you can be part of our next chapter and cannot wait to see you all in September!