Our story begins in 1988, when Julie and Eric entered high school at the Albuquerque Academy, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As Seniors in 1991-1992, Julie and Eric had a few classes together: Economics and BC Calculus. Eric excelled in these classes and can remember specific exam questions. Julie was too busy memorizing Cure lyrics to devote calculus equations to her memory. Nevertheless, both Eric and Julie graduated with their sights set on rigorous college experiences ahead of them, Eric heading to Pomona College in California and Julie heading to the University of Michigan. Before graduation, however, the two friends --and that's all they were at that time --went together to Julie's "Senorita Ball," as Julie was a "Senorita of the Symphony," a girl who was a Senior in high school and volunteered for the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra as an usher and do-gooder. At the Senorita Ball, which was effectively a debutante ball, Eric fulfilled his role as a debonair date and even danced a waltz that he was not informed he would have to dance. After that night -- well, actually after Julie and Eric's high school graduation three weeks later -- the two Albuquerque Academy grads went their separate ways to pursue their college dreams and career ambitions.

Eleven years later, Julie was dining with her parents at Mykonos restaurant in Albuquerque, while she was home visiting from Detroit. She was in her final year of her Ph.D. program and was in the long, grueling, and miserable process of writing her dissertation. Burt, Karen, and Julie Newmark were enjoying an excellent Mykonos meal, discussing the excellent running speed of their German Shorthair Pointer, Ruger, who they theorized could be a pinch-runner for the Yankees, when the three Newmarks heard someone say "Julie?" Julie, for one, didn't turn around. There came the voice again: "Julie?" No response from Julie. Finally, the young man sitting at the next table said "Are you Julie Newmark's parents?" Burt and Karen turned, Julie turned, and then Julie focused and said "Eric Engberg!" With the poise and self-possession of a suave gentleman, Eric replied, "I thought you might be Julie Newmark's parents, but then I thought you looked too young to be." At that point, Burt was ready to offer his daughter up for marriage to this handsome young man skilled in the arts of flattery.

In the years since Eric and Julie had last seen each other, Eric had proven himself as a talented mathematician, winning awards at Pomona College and studying Combinatorics in Hungary. He built stochastic models for Fair Isaac in San Rafael, California, and later worked for the dot-com start-up NextCard as a configuration manager and software engineer. At NextCard, Eric experienced the ascent and descent of the San Francisco dot-com industry in the early twenty-first century. Ultimately, Eric left the Bay Area, eventually returning to New Mexico . . . where our story continues . . .

After the fateful Mykonos meeting, Eric and Julie remained in touch. Julie ended up returning -- for a stay of a few months -- to New Mexico in the late winter of 2004. Shortly thereafter, the two were dating and maintained a long-distance relationship while Julie finished her Ph.D. in Detroit. During the two summers of their first two years together, the couple ventured across the great expanses of America, Eric on his bicycle and Julie in Eric's old manual-transmission Audi (which Julie had to learn to drive for the occasion). Eric cycled the entire southern tier of the USA and Julie finished her dissertation working in various small-town public libraries. After a few more months apart in 2005, Julie joined Eric in Albuquerque and began teaching in the English Department of the University of New Mexico. After one year in Albuquerque, Julie began a Visiting Assistant Professor position at New Mexico Tech in Socorro. In the Fall of 2006, Eric proposed . . .