Our Story

The short version

They met on a mission trip. There was a unicorn tattoo involved. Sixteen years later, here we are.

For the full story, keep reading.

The long version

April 12th, 2010

The clock strikes 6:30am. It’s 30 minutes after the children of Rolling Hills Christian Church were supposed to leave for the 9 hour drive to Tijuana, Mexico. Whispers spread faster than California wildfires throughout the 10 rented vans filled with teenage anxiety.

Daniel Chae was late.

“But who the hell is Daniel Chae,” thought Carolyn. She arrived 15 minutes early with a full water bottle and extra snacks.

6:33am. And their religious caravan takes shape for the 550+ mile drive from El Dorado Hills to Tijuana. The Rolling Hills Christian Church Mission Trip has officially begun. Where 80 children will build 8 houses over 6 days for a few families on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico.

Our two heroes will first cross paths that night. Carolyn is sitting with her girlfriends when she sees a boy walk in with a Goku hair style drawing the attention of every girl in the room. Who is that? Why of course, that is Daniel Chae.

Some might call it love at first sight, because at the same moment Daniel sees Carolyn for the first time. He’s clever and wiley, and throughout the week continues to make excuses to see Carolyn. Daniel has the Mission Trip in a tizzy with his sharpie tattoos, but his favorite of the week was a bad ass unicorn tattoo on Carolyn’s forearm.

They exchange numbers with the contact info “My Soulmate” which is still their contact in their phones today.

Daniel and Carolyn began dating on September 3rd, 2010. Daniel was a senior and Carolyn in her junior year, so the two enjoyed all the classics hand-in-hand. They went to Homecoming, Sadies, and when the time came for the Senior Prom, Daniel concocted a surprise that would land him in high school infamy.

You see, Daniel was a bit of a celebrity at Oak Ridge High School. So when Daniel shared his “Promposal” during lunch period, word spread. Daniel and his merry men (and women) made their way to Carolyn’s English Class, acoustic guitar in tow, where Daniel adapted LOVE by Nat King Cole to ask the love of his life his Prom. She said yes, one of many happy yeses that would take place over the years to come.

Eventually the pair would attend university across the United States. Daniel attended RISD, Carolyn attended SDSU.

Over the next ten years, they each built a life. Careers, new cities, new friendships, and one very important kitty. They became the people they were always going to be, just separately, and a little further apart than either of them would have chosen.

October 24th, 2020

10 years later, a pandemic brought the pair back to their hometowns and a phone exchange lead to “not a date.”

On this non-date, Daniel packed a picnic and rented out an entire movie for the pair. They saw Tenet and to this day, do not understand what that movie was about.

Carolyn and Daniel continued to date via a string of Airbnb houses. Daniel cooked. Carolyn supplied board games. And most importantly, they shared the last decade of their lives.

The similarities were obvious. They graduated, saw the world, worked, they made amazing friends, and grew closer to their families. And now they wanted to adventure together.

January 3rd, 2021

Daniel packed his life into boxes and moved to San Diego. Roughly one week later, after they had already signed a lease and arranged their furniture, Carolyn asked if they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Daniel laughed. Obviously, yes.

From there, the adventure was official.

What followed was six years that can only be described as a running series of excellent decisions and a questionable amount of moving boxes. They lived in the jungles of Mexico, where they befriended a retired couple with thirteen cats. They stayed on a remote island where golf carts were the only motorized transportation. They squeezed into a European apartment roughly the width of Daniel. They gallivanted through Korea, Seoul, the mountains, the beaches, all in one trip.

Through all of it, Carolyn and Daniel kept adding magnets. One for every place. What had started as Carolyn’s tradition somewhere along the way became theirs. Together they built an eclectic, slightly chaotic map with over 100 magnets of a life built in motion.

November 11th, 2022

Daniel found his spot in the Gingko Tree Grove at Seoul Forest, where the trees had turned a deep, impossible yellow. He got down on one knee with a marquise diamond ring that stopped time. Carolyn was already crying before his knee met the ground. She said yes.

September 5th, 2026

Planning a wedding in the mountains opened a new chapter that Daniel and Carolyn have been ecstatic to share with you. As Carolyn’s cousin Zoë so lovingly said, “you will get to live in Carolyn’s Pinterest board for a few days.”

Carolyn and Daniel are excited to reunite with you at Glacier National Park.