In the fall of 2014, we met in the cafeteria – Max is, as you all know, friendly and kind and will talk to anyone, so we had a lot of mutual friends.

One Friday in October, Codie and I ate dinner in the caf with a few other teammates. It was a Friday night after swim practice, so there was next to no one eating on campus. Max was there, and sat down with us at the athlete table (if you know you know). Codie and I went to the bathroom, where she demanded I keep talking to Max. I did, and eventually we started hanging out one on one, walking around campus at night, listening to music outside or stealing a hammock by the freshman dorms. We went on our first date to In-N-Out in late November after a swim meet, and our second date to Cold Stone in Santa Monica, where I demanded to know if he liked me or not on the drive home. Thankfully he said yes.

We officially started dating on December 6th, after Max had spent a night at Codie’s apartment making me a hula pie and getting grilled by her.

We’ve been inseparable ever since, with nearly 10 years of memories that would take me years to write up. A few of our favorites: trips to Hawaii & Australia in the same week in 2016, countless dinners with Max’s parents & sweet Amelie, parties in 103 where Max was always the only boy around, cheering on the volleyball team and getting loud as hell when Max served, annual Rehoboth & Jamaica trips with my family, spending every day together in 2020 and every weekend playing Mario Party with our friends (and their dogs), seeing Paramore and Beyonce together in 2023, the list goes on!

We moved in together in August of 2019 at the Charmont, where Max had been living for 2 years. We’ve loved living in the heart of Downtown Santa Monica, walking everywhere, becoming regulars (Max is good at it, I reap the benefits), and biking by the beach. Now, we’ve bought a condo a mile down the road, and can’t wait to build a new life with a little more space for all of you to come visit. 😊

We both turn 30 in 2024 and celebrate 10 years together in December – it feels like the perfect time to celebrate us, our story, and the role all of you have played in it!