We have been officially dating for over two and a half years now, but have known each other for a solid 10 years.  Our lifetime relationship started, unbeknownst to us, in the summer of 1998 at Santa Barbara’s Harbor Restaurant, when Kelly came up to the new hostess, Alisa, and immediately asked her out -- quite a feat for the young Dodds, those of you who knew him in his youth.  We dated informally for about 4-5 months while both attending UCSB and living in Isla Vista, after which we lost touch for several years. 

In the summer of 2001, we re-met when Alisa once again walked into a new job, this time at Raytheon. Our second time around we instantly became close friends.  Our friendship lasted for several years, and through many phases of our lives, until the spring of 2005 when Kelly and Alisa went to an Ice Cube concert. Let us just say….the rest is history.  Yet, before either of us was willing to pack-up our lives and transplant to a new city, we decided to test our relationship with a 2 month European sabbatical in which we traveled almost daily, “roller-suitcasing” from Hostel to Hostel, from Trattorias to Bratwurst stands, through 9 countries. The fact that two people so fond of their individualism didn’t want to kill each other after nearly 60 days of continuous time together (no really, virtually no breaks), we knew we had something special going.  But the test didn’t end there. We continued to live in different cities over 300 miles apart, and commuted almost every other weekend to visit each other.  Finally, in March of 2007, after a year and half of separate living, Alisa took the plunge and left the bustling Bay Area to return to her college roots of Santa Barbara.

The Proposal:
At a family cabin that overlooks Lake Nacimiento, Kelly proposed at sunset on a Saturday evening in December. This cabin was one of our favorite ½ way meeting spots while living in separate cities, so it was the perfect setting for this memorable weekend.

Our 3 years together and 10 years of friendship have been a whirlwind of incredible experiences, travel, and both personal and emotional growth. We look forward to sharing our experience of commitment with all of you, whether at the official ceremony, at work, over e-mail, over phone, or for some - in spirit.