Much like any great story, this one starts with some luck, good timing, and most of all...a dating app. It was July 2016 - Kristen had just graduated from the University of Delaware and moved to Silver Spring, Maryland to start her first engineering job, and Mark had been living in Silver Spring and working for the local power company after completing his 4+1 Master's degree at Cornell the year prior. At some point, they matched on Bumble, and eventually discovered that they happened to live in the same exact building! The first date was held in the apartment courtyard - Mark offered to bring beer, but Kristen said "no, I don't like beer, I'll bring gin", and for some reason, he didn't call it off right then (spoiler alert, she now loves beer). The first date went pretty well, the second date went even better, and then a week later, Mark moved out of Silver Spring, never to be heard from again.

Just kidding! But Mark did move into DC, beginning the "not quite long distance, but still quite an effort to see each other" phase of the relationship. Even so, through many late night drives through DC and many initial meetings of each other's friends, the two continued to grow their relationship. In September, Kristen helped Mark move to Arlington, VA (notice a pattern here, of him moving slowly further and further away?) They made it through their first football season together (which is difficult for a Steelers/Patriots match...),  met each other's families over the holiday season (Kristen was given the full "Romanelli family New Year's party experience" on Day 1), started their Valentine's Day tradition of building Star Wars Legos, went on countless explorations of DC, and on May 5th, they both quit their respective first jobs and threw a party, marking the end to this "medium distance" chapter.

You had to know there was a long distance section if Silver Spring to Arlington was considered medium distance, right? This time period began when Mark starts his year-long MBA program at - where else? - Cornell. After a week of celebrating in Ithaca, before Mark started classes and Kristen started her new stream engineering job (and moved to Baltimore), the six-hour drive apart began. No one loves long distance, but they both kept busy, made lots of new friends and memories, and visited each other often, and the time flew by. One benefit of long distance is that if you're going to make the effort to see each other, you might as well travel to a cool place, and travel they did - many times to places halfway between MD and NY, but also to Pittsburgh (yes, for THAT Pats/Steelers game), Disney, and Savannah (their favorite city so far). And then all of a sudden, it was May 2018, Mark was graduating with his third Cornell degree, and the long distance phase was over.

The two fit in one last summer trip together (to the Pacific NW) before Mark moved back to Arlington in July, ready to start his new job in risk management. And with that, it was back to the Maryland to Virginia drives, mostly on weekends, sometimes on weeknights (but always full of that famous DC area traffic). Both were keeping busy in their respective cities, especially as their jobs became busier, but they kept year 3 of their relationship packed with a couple more vacations (Cali and Disney), local touristy adventures, and as always, many breweries.

In April, Kristen moved into Rockville, MD, which began the summer of "how many times can two people really move?" Soon after, she gained a roommate (S/O to Nick, aka the third wheel of the tricycle). A couple months later, she got her own spot in an apartment down the street and Mark took her spot in Rockville. And then out of nowhere, Nick got a job in Jersey, packed up, moved out, and that paved the door for Kristen and Mark to make the leap to move in together. So after taking another vacation to make sure that they could still stand being around each other after Kristen made Mark see approximately 78739842 things in 5 days (PSA: it's hot in Arizona & New Mexico in August), Kristen moved back to Rockville and they began their new cohabitation adventure.

This is the phrase that Kristen and Mark like to use to refer to that lovely time before the world descended into chaos. Living together was going great! They began perfecting the balance of housework. It was pretty simple to figure out - he cooks, she cleans. Easy. Work was going well too - Kristen started traveling down to southern Maryland to do stream construction inspection nearly daily, and Mark was traveling most weeks for work. They were pretty happy with this balance of work, social life, and relaxation time, and were excited for it to continue. If only they knew...

In March 2020, Kristen had a work training in Asheville, NC. Mark accompanied her for the weekend before the course so that they could hit up the local breweries before her training started on Monday. So hit up the breweries they did, not knowing that it would be their last weekend out and about, without masks, for a very very long time. Then Mark flew home and Kristen's weeklong course went for two days before it (and the world) shut down and she had to return to Maryland as well. And so it began - the two people working from home, the not being able to leave the house, the Zoom happy hours as the only outside socialization. If ever there was a relationship test, it's moving in with your significant other just a few months before a global pandemic. And pass the relationship test they did - pizza nights, hikes, mini road trips, countless puzzles and, of course, a second bedroom to turn into an office were just some of the MVPs of the lockdown.

September 22, 2020. Mark is terrible at keeping secrets. Kristen knew the whole time, because Mark insisted that they go to the botanical gardens that night, and it had to be that night, because it would be fun, only on that night specifically - even though they had lived next to the aforementioned gardens for a year and still had never visited. Also because when they arrived, he insisted on taking his jacket, even though it was very, very warm. Kristen had said she wanted their engagement to be a cute, private moment with just the two of them, but unfortunately, the gardens were very crowded that day. So when she saw what he was planning on doing, in typical Kristen fashion, she said "hold on, let me find a more private spot!", got out her phone, opened the map, found a hiking trail near the river, and dragged them both there (so, in essence...yes, she replanned his proposal. Oops?) But then, on the bank of the stream, in a cute little wooded area, he proposed, she said yes (obviously, not really a spoiler there), and then they went out to a lovely dinner (that he had planned, and she did not replan!)

And that, family and friends, is what brings us here today. After the engagement, Kristen and Mark got right into planning that wedding thing that you may or may not have heard about - and planning that will probably take them until, just a guess, July 16, 2022. In October '20, Kristen started a new job as the second full-time employee at Nimbis Designs (the first being the founder, her best friend from UD, and most importantly, their wedding usher, Vinu), meaning her work-from-home status has been solidified. Mark is also still working from home, but now for a new company - he recently started a new job as a Sustainability Consultant at Ramboll! The two officially became NY residents when they moved to Astoria, Queens in April '21, and are loving their new apartment and proximity to the city and friends - especially as the world has reopened and NYC came alive again! They're so excited for all of the adventures to come in the near future, including vacations to take, other weddings to attend, touristy things to do in the city, sports to watch, beers to drink - and of course, beginning the next chapter of their lives together in July!