Our story takes us around the world, beginning in JFK airport. Our first semester of college, we studied abroad in Madrid together. For a month, we crossed paths often but rarely spent time together -- until we flew to Dublin for the weekend. Sasha and Elliott stayed with his older sister Anna, who was studying abroad in Ireland at the time. What Sasha initially thought was a stroke of misfortune (she booked her trip too late and the girls' Airbnb was already full!) turned into the most serendipitous trip of a lifetime. Their first night, Sasha and Elliott made ramen, then stayed up long into the night talking and talking and talking, eventually falling asleep at the kitchen table. From then on, they became the best of friends and before long, a couple.

Elliott and Sasha attended Syracuse University and continued to travel more together. The summer after they began dating, Elliott drove 14+ hours to visit Sasha's family in PA, then they road tripped out west together, and Sasha visited Elliott's family in St Louis. While at Syracuse, they also picked up the hobby they both love so much today - Filipino martial arts!

Their senior year of college, Elliott's family moved to Pennsylvania. He drove to PA one weekend and under the guise of helping his parents with moving in, he visited Sasha's family to ask for her hand. During winter break, Sasha and Elliott took a trip to Athens and Istanbul, which happened to fall during their 3-year anniversary. Sasha didn't suspect a thing (she thought Elliott would propose after they graduated!). Since Sasha is great at guessing what Elliott is planning, this would be the only time he'd have the element of surprise on his side. On the day of their anniversary, the couple took a walking tour of Istanbul, visiting beautiful mosques and city overlooks, and - ironically - learning about Turkish wedding traditions. Elliott nervously carried the ring in his pocket all day. As the day winded down, he asked if they can go to (another) overlook for sunset. But Sasha was all tuckered out and cold. They got tea in an alleyway instead, and before long, the sun had already set. Elliott insisted they return to an overlook they saw earlier that day to see the city at night, and Sasha finally agreed. As they stood in the night overlooking Istanbul under the stars, Elliott proposed! Silly Sasha was so flustered that she put the ring on her own hand.