Our Story
The Meet Cute
Our story begins February 2018 in college, when Leslie had an invite to go to a birthday party for her friend Morgan. She thought she might just do a quick stop in, and then get back to studying, but the night had other plans... The birthday party was a blast, and Leslie soon found herself in the kitchen with a guy trying to convince her to take a shot of some neon colored alcohol in unmarked bottles. She of course said “no way, you’re crazy” but then along came Siva… who actually brought these unmarked bottles! He had a whole story prepared about how he had separated skittles of each color, soaked them in vodka, and filtered it to make these Skittle Shots… He seemed trustworthy and it was just too elaborate to not be true! And so there in Morgan’s kitchen, Leslie and Siva first met each other over a Skittle Shot.
First Date
Siva met Leslie at her house for the first date, and without any idea of where the weekend would go, Leslie immediately asked him if he wanted to go for a run (too much coffee was drank that morning). They took off to the Lakeshore path and Leslie quickly showed her competitive spirit, kicking Siva’s butt in a race back to the house! Somehow that didn’t scare him off, but Siva did make sure he did all the planning for the 2nd date, and if you know Siva you’d know it was going to be just a little over the top: a trip to Chicago to see Timeflies, followed by a sip and paint, then a walk in the park! Leslie was smitten and many more dates ensued as they finished their last 2 semesters of college.
Traveling Together
Siva and Leslie planned their first trip together 4 months into dating, going to where else but Florida! Snorkeling, jet skiing, sunsets, and dealing with a flat tire made for a great bonding experience. After we both graduated December 2018, we planned a trip to Singapore and Bali together to take surf lessons and scooter around to as many waterfalls as we could. Traveling continues to be something we love to do together, making new memories with each other and our family & friends on whatever adventures we can find!
The Move to Colorado
At the beginning of 2019, Leslie made the first move out of WI, landing an engineering job in Boulder after graduation, but Siva followed close behind after accepting admission to a Masters in Aerospace Engineering program at CU Boulder. The next 3-4 years flew by with a group of amazing new friends learning how to canyoneer and rock climb, Siva finding his true outdoor passion in snowboarding, and spending just about every weekend we could in the mountains. We both look back so fondly on our time in CO together!
The Move to Florida
After blissfully enjoying mountain life together, we both thought it might be time to try out ocean living for a bit! Siva landed an aerospace job on Cape Canaveral in 2022 and Leslie soon landed an engineering job back in medical devices in Sarasota and despite the 2hr drive time between our offices, we moved in together! Ask Siva how he manages his new drive to the office ;) Work is a bigger part of our lives now but we still find plenty of time to travel and live the beach life!
He Pops the Question!
July 2023 (5 years into dating), Siva planned an early “birthday” weekend for Leslie to St Petersburg, Florida, starting with a sunset sail. To Leslie’s complete surprise, he got down on one knee just as the sun was hitting the horizon and it was an easy “yes”! In true Siva fashion, the surprise didn’t end there; he also had some of our friends fly down and they were waiting ashore to celebrate with us the rest of the weekend. It was a magical moment and couldn’t have been more perfect!