Like all great love stories, ours began... on Zoom. It was the height of the 2020 pandemic - hoarding toilet paper, baking sourdough loaves, and all. We were paired in a virtual chamber music group during Ben's first year at USC. Wanting to be a friendly face since Ben hadn't had the chance to meet anyone yet, Sarah invited him out for the must-have burritos on campus. Ben showed up wearing his one and only mask - brightly adorned with cartoon trucks. A bold fashion choice, but somehow it worked. After just a few days we were inseparable.

(The first time we met!)

We quickly graduated from Zoom rehearsals to real-life adventures - exploring every botanical garden in Los Angeles and taking nightly drives to the ocean. Like many people in 2020, we had absolutely nothing to do, but we loved doing nothing together.

Fast-forward almost five years, and we've been enjoying our time together exploring small towns across California, going on our annual Disneyland excursions, adding new recipes to our cookbook, and driving down to San Diego for weekend staycations. We've also made a yearly tradition of taking a day trip to the Oak Glen orchard just outside of LA. It's our moment to step away from our work, and enjoy the quiet serenity and our favorite animals that we've come to know by name.

Ben knew this would be the perfect place to ask Sarah to marry him.

(At the orchard in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)