our story

The day after Kristina Simes' 27th birthday, she figured she might give online dating one last shot. She happened upon the profile of "steg88," aka, Ryan James Stegink.

 

Kristina was intrigued by Ryan's warm smile and his love for Burt’s Bees chapstick, NPR, and going barefoot, so she sent him a short note (above). When Ryan replied a mere hour or so later, Kristina was thrilled to note his meticulous grammar.

 

Over the course of one week, Kristina and Ryan wrote long emails back and forth, which finally culminated with Ryan asking Kristina if she’d like to get coffee that weekend. In just their first few weeks of dating, Ryan and Kristina realized that they shared more than their loves of fiction, art, and coffee. They were both fortunate to come from big, loving families. They both cared deeply about working in the field of education. And they both believed in the transformative power of love & community.

 

“The minute I heard my first love story,

I started looking for you, not

knowing how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.

They're in each other all along.”

-Rumi

 

Kristina and Ryan fell in love rather suddenly, but in a way that felt like they had known each other for a very long time.

 

After meeting & loving each other's families, and asking for a blessing from both sets of parents, on March 22, 2014, Ryan and Kristina exchanged rings and decided to spend a lifetime together.