A classic story of girl covers boy’s shift because no one else wanted to. Jack and Natalie first crossed paths while working at the Media Center in the MSU Union. Someone (not naming names, it wasn’t them) rented out one of the DSLR cameras without getting the proper information. After confirming neither were the culprits, Jack and Natalie quickly found themselves bonding over the missing camera drama and kept each other up-to-date as it unfolded. Sometime after that, he asked her to cover his shift and she did. The rest is, as they say, is herstory.

When it came to the proposal, Jack was pretty sure Natalie would say yes. But he wasn't sure if there was a backdrop worthy of such a question. Then, the prospect of a vacation to New Zealand. And when Natalie's sister Kyla said, "you could propose anywhere in New Zealand, and it would be perfect" he knew he had his place. But what of the location? For that, it would require some stealth coordination with her mom, who encouraged Jack to do it when it felt *right.* And *right* was Roy's Peak, 8 km up a very steep trail populated by cows, a beautiful sun rise, and the tears of regret from former hikers. Natalie was quickest up the mountain and was sponsoring fresh conditioning by Orange Theory. Jack was close behind and was instead rehearsing the speech he had prepared. Once they met up with Kyla and Annette at the (not quite) summit was when the moment came. Jack handed Kyla his phone, told her to start filming when he scratches his head, and then said "here it goes!" She said yes.

In their junior year of college, Natalie and her best friend Virginia planned a house party based on the iconic song September, by Earth Wind and Fire. The party was a huge hit with everyone finding their own 1970s attire. Every thrift store within 30 miles of campus could feel the seismic activity of these college students hunting down groovy lenses and bell-bottoms. Cops were called, tickets were split among roommates, and the September Party was born. We have continued to host a party, big or small, every year since then, this will be our seventh year running.