In August 1994, I was about to begin my junior year at Cal. My parents and youngest sister Hilary drove off to Illinois to move my sister Emily into her freshman dorm at the University of Illinois. As young crazy unsupervised college students occasionally do, I decided that an empty house meant one thing: party. One of the attendees of the party was a friend of a friend, a girl whom I found shared my passion for music. Despite not having much of a chance to talk to Veronica at the party, our friendship grew nonetheless as we shared a myriad of movies, concerts, clubs, and dinners.

By the time I graduated from Berkeley in 1996, Veronica and I had fallen out of touch. However our shared interests didn't let us stay apart for long, and after reacquainting ourselves at several clubs and concerts, we were again fast friends. Veronica was working at Arthur Beren Shoes in Union Square in San Francisco, and I made it a habit to take one long lunch a week from grad school at UCSF to take the MUNI downtown to meet her. In the summer of 1998 we both found ourselves out of an apartment, and after searching tirelessly for three months we moved into a beautiful three bedroom in the Presidio with our new friend Alex.

Once we were roommates, our relationship quickly accelerated until it left friendship and became romance. Once our friends adjusted to the change, they all expressed curiosity at why this hadn't happened sooner. We lived with Alex until 2000, when we found a one bedroom apartment for ourselves closer to UCSF.

In 2001 I finished my Ph.D. degree, and with Veronica's encouragement decided to take a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. She made the big sacrifice to follow me out to Boston, and I loved her all the more for her support. Unfortunately, Veronica barely had a chance to adjust to the humidity before family matters caused her to return to Los Angeles. Luckily, the separation served to teach us how special our relationship was. On a weekend trip to visit her in October 2001, I popped the big question. She happily accepted, while her little dog Cobi looked up at us slightly befuddled.

Veronica returned to Boston in April 2002, and we spent the next year exploring New England. Our wedding plans were delayed while we debated where and how to hold the ceremony. We both have fond memories of Massachusetts, but when my two year fellowship ended it didn't take much deliberation for me to accept a job offer from Stanford so that we could return to our beloved California and tie the knot with our old friends and family. In July 2003 we again traversed the country with all our belongings, moving into a two bedroom house in San Mateo. Even Cobi came to join us before long!

Back in our native surroundings we're now finally able to invite you all to participate in our wedding. It's been a wild ten years knowing Veronica, and we want to include everyone who has helped us along the way!