Yes Please!
In Caleb's last week living in the US, we took a trip to Yosemite (Grace's favourite place) with a few friends. Caleb proposed in Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.
Grace said "yes please". Caleb moved back to the UK and we (after a few months) started planning our wedding.
Favourite Place on Earth
We went to Yosemite National Park for the first time — spent time in Yosemite Valley, saw the Dawn Wall at dawn and went to Glacier Point.
Grace said it's her "favourite place on earth".
Surprise Visit
Grace flew to the US to surprise Caleb for his birthday.
5 Years Together
5 year anniversary!
Grace Visits California
Grace's first trip to Berkeley to visit Caleb. There was freakishly bad weather in the UK for that time of year. After a set of terrible night shifts and a leaky hospital roof she took the flight to sunny California.
Long distance really wasn't that bad!
Long Distance Begins
This was the start of three years of official long-distance with Caleb living in Berkeley, California and Grace living in Cambridge, UK.
We found long-distance much easier than you might think.
Caleb Starts a New Job
Caleb started a new job managing a philanthropic foundation, travelling regularly to the US.
Grace Graduates
Grace graduated from medical school and started working in Cambridge as a doctor. Caleb also moved to Cambridge.
Snow & Doughnuts
At this point Caleb was living in a house a street away from Grace's so we saw each other every day but were socially distanced for lockdown.
The Great Sleepover of 2020
Caleb escapes his London flat and we lock down at the start of COVID in Grace's university house with 2 of her 5 housemates (Alex and Rhiannah). We were two couples in a big house with a garden and had a (relatively) great time.
We watched all of Game of Thrones and The US Office, cooked good food, and went climbing in the Peak District most weeks.
Hamilton & First Christmas
Our first Christmas together. We're still middle-distance (Sheffield-London) and Caleb surprised Grace with tickets to see Hamilton, our favourite musical, which we'd been obsessing about for years.
We are fluent in the soundtrack!
Long Distance & 'I Love You'
We spent this summer in our first taste of long-distance. Grace spent 5 weeks in Bangladesh for her Masters and Caleb moved to London for a nonprofit incubator.
Official Couple
Now boyfriend and girlfriend, we went to Caleb's final year ball.
Our First Date
Our official first date! We met at the engineering building, walked to Marmadukes for a coffee/cake and then perused the Millennium Gallery.
We spent the next few months going on lots of dates, favourite spots included Stanage Edge in the Peak District and coworking in the library.
First Meeting
We met for the first time this summer at Grace's church followed by a few months of bumping into each other either at church or on nights out.
One of our first conversations was about Effective Altruism.
