Kirsten identifies herself as a "Martian Geologist." She is an Assistant Professor at Rice University studying the rock record of Mars to understand the history of water on Mars, and the beginnings of our own planet as well. She is the oldest of three siblings and grew up in Northern Virginia, where her parents still reside, and has since lived in St. Louis, MO, Pasadena, CA, and Long Island, NY. She moved to Houston, TX in January 2018. She loves traveling, photography, puzzles, swimming, and speaking about Mars to anyone who will listen.

Kendall is a 4th-year medical student at McGovern Medical School, studying to become a Radiation Oncologist. He has a masters degree in Biomedical Informatics and is interested in utilizing that background to help improve doctors' interactions with electronic medical records. He is the oldest of four siblings and grew up in Rexburg, Idaho, and his family has since moved to Mapleton, UT. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Monterrey, Mexico for 2 years and went to school at BYU in Provo, UT before moving to Houston in July 2015. Kendall plays the piano and enjoys playing and following sports, hiking, biographies, and delving into new intellectual pursuits.

We met at an Institute class at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints approximately 24 hours after Kirsten moved to Houston in January 2018. The next week, Kendall called Kirsten to ask her out for dinner that Friday. The first date was not a slam dunk, but Kirsten agreed to a second date, and later Kendall agreed to go for a walk, and after a bit of time and a lot of discussion, we began to fall for each other... Kendall agreed to long walks (despite Houston heat!) around Rice campus, Brazos Bend state park, Galveston and Bolivar Island, and San Antonio. He tried new restaurants and even tried Zumba. Kirsten read part of his book collection, quizzed him on medical terms, watched the NBA playoffs, attempted to keep up on the stair-stepper, and helped come up with coding ideas to study authorship differences in the Book of Mormon. Together, we taught Sunday School classes, saw musicals at the Hobby Center, went to Astros games, visited the Houston Zoo, read "Algorithms to Live By," hosted numerous "Codenames" game nights with friends, visited family and friends across the country, tried new restaurants and foods (but also ate a lot of Chick-fil-A), raced to complete mini crossword puzzles, and learned a lot about Mars and medicine. We've faced a few challenges and learned to support each other and appreciate each other's talents and strengths, and we both lean on the Gospel of Jesus Christ for guidance, perspective, and direction. We are thrilled to keep learning, exploring, growing, studying, reading, eating, and traveling together and to celebrate this commitment with all of you! Thank you!