Some might say fate had a hand in bringing us together. It was one of those chance meetings that felt so unlikely—Dakota, originally from the East Coast, and Alora, born and raised in Texas, meeting while we were both attending UTSA. From the moment we met, it felt like there was something different about us. Our first date lasted nearly five hours, and we barely noticed the time slipping away. It started with casual conversation over drinks and ended with Dakota sharing one of his favorite movies, Groundhog Day. It was a quirky, unexpected ending to a night that felt like a dream, but looking back, it was so perfectly “us.” We still smile when we think about it. At the time, we were both college students, each working hard to finish our degrees. Exactly a week after that first date, the world changed. The COVID-19 pandemic hit, and quarantine threw all of us into uncertainty. If we hadn’t gone on that date when we did, we might have missed our chance to know each other. But even though the world was turned upside down, we knew that what we had found was worth holding onto. The early days of our relationship were anything but ordinary. With social distancing in place, we had to get creative. We traded fancy dinners for outdoor picnics, exchanged movie nights for painting dates at home, and discovered that even simple things like cooking together could be filled with so much joy. Despite the challenges of both the pandemic and juggling our studies, we were always there to cheer each other on. Dakota finished his degree in 2020, and Alora in 2022, and we celebrated each milestone together, knowing how far we’d come both individually and as a couple. It took nearly a year before we finally made it to a movie theater, something most couples do early on. But by that point, it felt symbolic of how we had learned to navigate the unexpected—always finding a way to make things work, no matter what. Now, after five incredible years, we’ve built so many memories and faced life’s twists and turns together. In March 2024, Dakota asked Alora to marry him in the stunningly beautiful Lake Tahoe, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and the shimmering lake. It was the perfect place for the next chapter of our story to begin, and we couldn’t be more excited to share that chapter with all of you, our family and friends.