Like any true American love story, it all started in a bar with a kiss brought on by a little liquid courage...

Of course we can't skip the build-up though.

Jack and Kalika first crossed paths in the Spring of 2014 at Cabrillo College when she was his TA for an engineering class. Other than Kalika writing "10/10" on Jack's pristine hand-drawn drafting homework, they never interacted. In Fall 2014 they both got into the Engineering Abroad Program where they finally took notice of each other. Two things about Jack were immediately apparent to Kalika--he was very smart and he was very reserved. For Jack, Kalika was hard to miss (or ignore for that matter). She had a very loud and assertive personality, and she had a take-charge attitude. Other than taking notice of each other, there wasn't much traction.

Come Winter 2014, when the Engineering Abroad Program flew down to Guatemala for two weeks. Jack was coming out of his shell with Kalika and there was a quiet sass to his humor that she liked. They had a playful innocence to their flirtations, which continued for the better part of the two weeks. Then came the night that changed everything. The group was out at the local bar, and Kalika decided to take matters into her own hands. The group was leaving for the night, so Jack walked over to the bar to fetch Kalika. As soon as Jack swung her around, she wrapped her arms around and pulled him in for a kiss making sure there were no doubts about her feelings toward him.

At the end of the program in Guatemala, Kalika flew back home and Jack stayed behind an extra week. One week later, Jack left a voicemail on Kalika's cell--he had just made it through customs, was on his way home, and wanted to see her the next day. They went on their first official date, then another date the day after, and another the day after that. A few days after their first date, they went to the Seascape beach to have a bonfire with some friends. The temperature continued to drop as the night went on. One by one, people started leaving until it was just Jack and Kalika. They stayed huddled close to the fire, talking about everything you could imagine. As the dawn began to glisten across the murky waters, they walked back to the parking lot, then lingered around Jack's truck a bit longer.

"So, are we a couple?"

Kalika smiled, "Well that depends."

Completely puzzled, Jack asked "On what?"

"On you. You haven't asked me."

They both had a laugh and then Jack asked Kalika to officially be his girlfriend.

While they both attended San José State, Kalika was living a true nomadic life, bouncing from Watsonville to Scotts Valley and everywhere in between. When she wasn't housesitting or pet-sitting, chances were that she was at the Fogelquist household. It's fair to say that Jack and Kalika were practically living together (unofficially).

During the last year of their studies for their respective degrees, Jack started looking into PhD programs and had taken a special liking to UC Davis. While Jack was focused on the academic logistics, Kalika took charge of the living logistics. After countless hours scavenging Zillow, making phone calls, sending emails, and taking virtual tours (pandemic and all), they finally received the email that their application had been accepted. Keep in mind they hadn't seen the place in person--they'd barely even spent a day in the town. They were going in completely blind, but they were excited.

A few days later, they set out to pick up the keys. They drove 2.5 hours, reached Davis, parked in front of the property manager's building, opened the car door, and immediately regretted their decision to move to Davis. They could barely catch their breaths with the 100-degree heat cooking them from the outside. But their fate was already sealed--Jack had signed up for classes and they had signed the lease.

After the initial heat shock, they drove over to their house, walked over to their door, inserted their key, and stepped into their new home. They had now officially moved in together.

Every year on January 25th, Jack and Kalika would take an anniversary photo. Kalika had transitioned from student to professional and was now working full-time, which meant that it was already dark when she got home. Thus, it came as no surprise when Jack told Kalika the night before that he wanted to take her somewhere before work.

The 5:30 AM alarm couldn't come any sooner because Jack was already up and moving. Kalika took her usual time coming out of dreamland before getting up and jumping into the shower. By 6:30 AM they were both out the door. The mornings in Davis had been cold, but that particular morning was especially frosty. Jack drove and started toward the university. As they turned onto La Rue Road, Kalika reached for Jack's hand on the shifter.

"Babe, you're shaking! Are you cold?"

"Uh...yeah. It's cold."

Kalika cranked up the heater but Jack was already pulling over to park. He grabbed his camera bag and they descended into the arboretum. They strolled along the trail following Putah Creek and Kalika couldn't help but be thankful for bringing hand and toe warmers. Though that wasn't enough to keep her from thinking, "This guy really brought me out in the freezing-ass cold for a picture. He's trying to kill me!"

Jack started recounting the night that they first became a couple. They took turns filling in the details. Up ahead, Kalika could see a bridge with what looked like locks on it.

"Oh that's cool. We're gonna put a lock on the bridge and take a picture."

The timing couldn't be any more perfect. As the two reached the middle of the bridge, Jack finished the retelling of their love story.

"It was seven years ago today, almost down to the minute, when I asked you a very important question. And now I'm going to ask you another..."

He started to drop to one knee and reach into his jacket pocket.

"Holy shit!"

"Kalika, will you marry me?"