We met outside the dorm in the first weeks of college. Michael was taken by her vivacity and passion. Elise was drawn to his laissez-faire nature and pajama-chic style. It was evident there was a connection, but the timing wasn't right; both were still dating high school sweethearts. Throughout college they became close friends, often going to galleries and museums, concerts at the old Webster Hall or making grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Just before college ended, they hatched a plan to roadtrip from New Jersey to Seattle. During graduation the parents got involved, and through a team effort we purchased a car in New Jersey, loaded it up with entirely too much stuff, and took off across the country. This was the beginning of everything. The basis of a relationship founded on adventure, teamwork and support. It was a journey filled with joy and awe-inspiring moments: dozing to sleep with the Saint Louis arch just outside our window, exploring cave systems and old bandit hideouts, camping and hiking through Bryce and Zion, and watching the sun rise over the Grand Canyon. Even when we were caught in a torrential downpour outside Tulsa, Oklahoma, with lighting flashing like a giant strobe light in the sky and tornado sirens wailing on all sides, we came together. We held each other under that freeway overpass until the storm let up, and then spent the next hour photographing the force of nature as it retreated. A week later, we plucked Michael's first white hairs and still have them in the journal from the trip. Burning playlists on CDs from an ever exhausting supply of music on our laptops, blasting Florence and the Machine as we crested the hills outside LA and saw the Pacific Ocean like it was the first time. After we arrived in Seattle, Elise flew back to New York.

This kicked off a couple years of visiting each other. Until one day, as Elise was musing about her next move, Michael suggested moving out to Seattle. Elise replied "You better be careful what you wish for." and half a year later on September 9th 2014, landed in Seattle with her bags packed and no return flight. Hands down the best birthday present Michael will ever get.

Since then we've shared many more adventures: family holidays in Germany, snorkeling in the Galapagos, moving from our little apartment in Ballard to a house on Capitol Hill, learning about maintaining a house, raising Homer (our dog), art gazing at Burning Man, harrowing backpacking trips, and living in the mountains for 8 months. We've both left our jobs and started new businesses. We've grown individually and together. Our story is long and rich in detail; a mere fragment is captured here... and in many ways, it is a story that is just beginning.

We look forward to celebrating the start of our next chapter with you.