Rachel graduated from UCSD med school, officially became Dr. Rachel Segal, and matched into her number one residency at the University of Washington. That meant Seattle, so we threw a goodbye party that somehow crammed 40 of our friends into our tiny North Park apartment with way too much Tribute pizza and a big batch of margaritas.

Rachel went up first to start residency and Finn followed a few weeks later, driving the coast with his dad and Tito through a heatwave that sat over 100 degrees most of the way. We landed in Ballard, which felt a lot like the San Diego neighborhood we left behind. With no family or friends around at first we leaned on each other a lot, even if our hearts are still set on California.

This is the year we got engaged and found our venue. After designing the ring on a trip to New York, Finn hid it in the bottom of his tuxedo shoes for months so Rachel wouldn’t find it. It all came together in Valle de Guadalupe. On our second night, under some old oak trees at golden hour, Finn set up his camera and suggested a few photos before dinner, then got down on one knee, forgot the whole speech he had practiced, and asked anyway. Rachel said yes.

We spent the rest of the trip celebrating, then surprised both families with an engagement dinner back in California. For the wedding we knew most of our people would be traveling no matter what, so we let ourselves look a little further out. We already had a trip to Portugal planned, stopped at Aethos Ericeira for one night, and the cliffs, surf, and warm weather felt so much like San Diego that we booked it before we even left.

This is the part we haven’t lived yet. The next chapter of our story gets written at Aethos Ericeira, with our favorite people in the world there to see it. We can’t wait to celebrate it with each of you. To be continued, in Ericeira.