Shawn and I met in college at a dinner party that our friends called “Fancy Feast”. I remember telling our friend Joel that I didn't want to go. I almost didn't. We were both sophomores at the University of Minnesota when we met in 2013. He saw me across the room and approached in a dashing turtle neck (but for real, the man has always had style). We talked about shared memories we had in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It took me a little while, but the memory of talking with him kept tugging at me. A few months later, we went on our first date. We walked around the lakes in Minneapolis and had some tacos at "Rusty's". Shawn told me, "If there's one thing you need to know about me, it's that I love tacos", which I very much related to. Then we went out to see a live music show from an alternative rock band. They brought us up on stage and sprayed us with water. On our second date, we had a picnic on the city bus and got a little tipsy at the Minneapolis science museum (haha). On the third date, Shawn laid it on thick with a visit to a rose garden and fireflies in the woods. By that point, I was smitten. From there to Hawaii and around the world, we've shared our love of animals, music, good stories and travel. It's been a wild ride, and I couldn't ask for a better adventure partner. *Photos by Masha Sakhno Photography