Chapter 1: Grad Parties
Our story 'started'-as one naturally does-in high school-in a basement. The two of us had never met in-person before, but were fully aware of each other. And, by the end of the night, you'd have thought we grew up together. We chatted for hours in that basement talking about life, future goals and ACT scores until the early hours of the morning. But life did what it does and one of us zigged while the other zagged. A couple years passed and by then, both of us were attending Michigan State University (Go Green) where, as I'm sure you can guess, our story really began.Chapter 2: All In
2016 came along and through happenstance we picked up where we left off--texting each other nonstop--catching up on lost time. Kurt revealed that he was preparing for an a cappella concert on campus and extended an invite to Sydney. To Kurt's surprise she took the bait and agreed. After the show, he invited Sydney to the group's after party (very classy) and somewhere between the red solo cups and fate they reconnected with those lingering feelings from that high school basement.
Sydney knew the real litmus test was how Kurt got along with her family so she invited him to spend the weekend with them at their cabin. Flying colors. This is when she knew she was all in, watching him effortlessly chat around the bonfire with her parents, seeing how kindly he interacted with the neighbors, how he offered a helping hand, how handsome he looked during sunset, and the way they belly laughed like kids while tubing. It became obvious from that weekend that it would be the last time either of us had to wonder if we would find our person. This was our 'movie moment'--where everything just seemed to align and so many of our questions about the future were no longer in question. Chapter 3: Sharp Cheddar
The envelope was officially sealed at an Almont barn party (as it should be) with a note hidden inside a bag of cheese. While this wildly romantic gesture sealed the deal, it was not attempt #1.
Earlier that week Kurt tried to ask Sydney to be his girlfriend while they were reading a book together outside. Each of them meant to read a certain amount of pages, Kurt had planted a note within the pages that Sydney was meant to read saying, "Will you be my girlfriend?" But in true Sydney fashion, she was too nervous she would fumble her words and instead insisted that Kurt continue. Kurt decided the time wasn’t right and suggested they do something else. He did eventually confess that he really wished she would have turned that page because in it would have been a very special note. Kurt said, "Don’t worry, it was really a cheesy way to ask anyway". To which Sydney replied, "I love cheesy!" So a few days later, buried in a bag of sharp cheddar cheese, was that same note. It was official, we were all in. 
How it all began
Chapter 4: Chrysalis
College, for us, was the foundation that we've built our relationship on. It taught us how to work together and support each other whether it was when Sydney was creating a makeup look on Kurt for VIM magazine or when Kurt needed a trash can at the side of his bed. It taught us how to find balance in our schedules and to always carve out time for one another. It gave us our first taste of dog parenting when Sydney adopted Kai her junior year. It introduced us to some of our best friends and future cul de sac neighbors. It reaffirmed our passions as creatives and guided us to follow our dreams. It allowed us to travel and see new places around the world whether it was a study abroad or exploring winter destinations on our spring break because those were the only destinations we could afford. But because our relationship started when we were just kids all of these experiences allowed us to not only grow up together but to truly grow together as one. And, as we grew so did our ambitions. So, we took the training wheels off in East Lansing and we headed West. Chapter 5: Bond, Savings Bond
It's 2018 and with a whopping $0 to our name and some uncashed savings bonds for a down payment on an apartment we migrated west 2300 miles to Los Angeles. Holding onto two dreams and too many bags, our lives were packed into a relocation cube and Sydney’s Jeep Compass was on it's way to Los Angeles. We didn't have much but we had each other.
Lucky for us, our early years of dating taught us a lot of lessons, and we knew that the bad sushi, the horror stories on the metro and the poorly timed global pandemic were just dog-eared pages in our story. But we also learned new lessons, we made new friends and as our perspective grew so did our relationship.
Our travel bug remained very much alive as we spent our weekends weaving in and out of California's national parks. These roadtrips have become a very important part of our relationship and have served as our secret reset button throughout the years. Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Mammoth Lakes, these places are all sewn into our tapestry. Chapter 6: Home Field Advantage
But now home is Los Angeles, where we have created a life for ourselves for the last 6+ years. But for us, something was missing. We moved into a new spot and were lucky enough to have a yard. And, what good is a yard if there isn't a dog running around in it, right? So, 2 years ago we added Oatmeal, our sweet (and sour) 15 pound, long-haired dachshund to our little family.Our free time in LA is spent trying out new restaurants and returning to our favs, hitting up farmer and flee markets, thrifting for home decor and clothing must haves, taking Oaty on family strolls or to local parks, spending time at the beach while Kurt surfs like a pro and Sydney soaks up the sun, attending concerts for our favorite artists at intimate venues, dancing in the kitchen while making a home cooked meal, and constantly making each other laugh daily.
Sydney is continuing to dream out loud as a full-time professional makeup artist while Kurt works for Google and still makes music of his own.Chapter 7: Swiss Mrs.
Continuing on our explorations, we decided to go bigger and bought tickets to Switzerland--a place we've always dreamed of going. For the first time in our relationship, Sydney wasn't the one planning. We plane-bopped and train-hopped our way to Grindelwald where we started our trip. We enjoyed breakfast with the most incredible view and headed to the spa that we had all to ourselves to start our morning. A couple of glasses of champagne each and we were ready to hike Lake Oeschinen. Kurt, not factoring in sunset realized that they didn't have time to do the full hike and had to improvise. We instead went rogue and found a small trail that overlooked the lake away from the others. The basement talks, the little adventures, the constant giggles all of it leading to an unsurprising yet inevitable, "Will you marry me?"
And while Sydney may have seen this coming (Kurt taking the reins on planning was a dead giveaway) Kurt did still have one trick up his sleeve. We headed to Italy to round off the second half of our trip. As our train stopped in Lake Como we headed to our BnB lugging our bags through the cobblestone sidewalks. Kurt knew that this moment would always be special for them but wanted to go above and beyond for Sydney. Little did she know that the entire time he was planning the trip he was also scheming with Sydney's parents to have them surprise her in their BnB in Lake Como. Safe to say it worked as Sydney truly had no idea that her parents had flown across the Atlantic.
We all played tourist together as we swam in Lake Como, sipped on Hugo Spritz and made pesto in Cinque Terre.
Chapter 8: The Wedding
Our story is still just beginning, but we're excited to have each and every one of you in such an important part of our story as you all have been in different chapters leading to this one. So, after 9 years together, it's time for the crescendo. Cheers, to becoming Mr. & Mrs. Creger!
