Our Story
Austeja
The Lithuanian apple of all our eyes, Austeja was born in Vilnius and began life there before setting off across the Atlantic Ocean for America with her family. The Vidugirai eventually settled in Madison but not before Austeja made stops in Boston, New York City, and Vilnius again. All the travel, and all the time she spent with Bobyte and the rest of her family in Lithuania ensured Austeja would be ready to handle whatever life could throw at her.
In Madison, Austeja managed to stay close to her Lithuania roots (going back every summer for many years) and still become every bit the difficult American teenage girl you imagine she was. As she grew from middle school, to high school, and, eventually, moved to Minneapolis for college, she also soaked up every minute of life, and she made sure the people around her did the same.
Any kind of adventure? Austeja was in. Still is to this day. Snowboarding, scuba diving, hiking, swimming, jumping off cliffs, roaming around new cities with friends - she has always been ready to do it. When she graduated college, that love for adventure had Austeja setting off on another journey - this time a Eurotrip with her friend Anna where we would meet.
By the time I saw Austeja for the first time, she had become the Force of Nature we all know today. She had grown from the unbelievably adorable little girl on the left (look at those cheeks!) into the most unique, beautiful, perfectly imperfect woman I will ever meet.
~ RP
Ralph
Born in Loretto, TN, a town of 1800 people, Ralph had the classic “small town America” upbringing. He spent his days pretending to be a ninja turtle, playing in the creek, and watching his Grandpa play Set Back with his friends. Ralph knew everyone he saw on the street, had a whopping 7 people in his 8th grade class, and had nearly his entire family within a 15 mile radius.
Quickly learning that his neurons fired faster than some, Ralph had no trouble in school and decided to go to college at Vanderbilt University as his first step outside Loretto. He quickly learned about the big world out there and paved his own path to explore it. Along the way, Ralph lost his southern accent by talking like the people on SportsCenter and picked up some Italian while living in Florence. He also discovered he had a knack for science and set out to cure cancer! (Still waiting on that one babe...)
In the most unlikely of circumstances, by the time I met Ralph he was the perfect anomaly - from a small town but attuned to people’s differences; loved time by the creek and dinner in a fancy Italian restaurant; incredibly studious but always down for a dance party. Creative, capable, and caring - despite my best attempts I stood little chance of not falling.
~ AV
Meet Cute
Once upon a time a boy and a girl who had never met found themselves in the same hostel in Turkey. The very loud girl was bemoaning the BP oil spill atrocity to anyone who would listen. The boy, meanwhile, had just laid eyes on the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He was ready to support with whatever cause she was yelling about as long as it gave him a chance to meet her. And meet they did.
They agreed to meet for beers at a random bar in Istanbul and bring the friends they were traveling with. They didn’t have cell phones at the time, so the meeting almost never took place. But somehow they managed to navigate an analog world, meet, and make a night full of memories. Somewhere along the line, the girl started to like the boy just a little bit too…
The next day, while their friends were hungover, the boy and girl decided to roam the streets of Istanbul together. On their “first date” they realized (a) they were very different and (b) and despite those difference, they liked one another. Maybe a lot. So the boy and his friends (Baity, Sander, Trip, and Kornblum) tried to persuade the girl and her friend, Anna, to follow them to Bodrum, their next destination. The girls shared an ‘always down for a good adventure’ spirit, so they decided to tag along with the boys. After spending an incredible few days in a dream world filled with beaches, dancing, and Efes, the boy and girl knew they were in trouble…
Long Distance is Complicated
After leaving “fake life” behind and returning to the States, the boy and the girl decided to give long distance a shot. Ralph was moving to Baltimore to start an MD/PhD, and Austeja was starting grad school in Minneapolis, so…the odds of this working weren’t great. But 57 email-long thread from their time in Europe, numerous Skype sessions apart, and an incredible week in Minneapolis together made the decision for them - they had to give this a shot!
They jumped on a one-and-a-half year long rollercoaster where they would make a ton of memories and fall in love. The timing wasn’t right though. They both had plans of their own. Neither was ready to drop everything for the other person - each needed to figure themselves out first…
Into the Wilderness
Like everything these two do, they took “figuring themselves out” to max. Around 2012-13, they went into the “Wilderness” from one another, where each would take several dramatic steps on their own to figure out who they wanted to be in life.
Ralph left medical school and cancer research behind to start a company. Pretty soon one company (Reify Health) turned into two (+ Signal Vine), as he and Michael, his friend and business partner, worked day after day to make the world a better place. Along the way Ralph learned how to deal with ambiguity, failure, and and a host of other challenges that come along with starting a company. Nothing came easy. While in the Wilderness, he also had some impossibly difficult life events occur. But with his relentless optimism he came out the other side okay, and he knew a little more about what matters most in this journey we call “life”.
Meanwhile Austeja, in her adventurous, ever whimsical way, decided to move to Australia. Her years in Sydney surrounded by the beach, the people, and the vibes of “Oz” would become the most influential years of her life. While there, she explored the South Pacific, climbed a few tall mountains, learned to swim, visited countless wineries, and spent even more hours stumbling with her amazing friends. She also became a boss professionally, leaving her mark on Macquarie Neurosurgery and MQ Health along the way. Through it all, six years of incredible friendships and lifelong memories changed her world view and strengthened many of her core beliefs.
Doing Life Together
“If you have chemistry, you only need one other thing, timing. But timing is a bitch.”
Nearly a decade after they first met, and a full six years living on opposite sides of the world, the boy and the girl still had chemistry. Whatever spark ignited their meeting that first night. Whatever kept them in touch over the years. It wasn’t gone. They still had chemistry. And they were finally ready to make the “timing” happen.
As Austeja was planning her move back to the States, the two fiercely independent people were finally ready to compromise for one another. They were ready to put in the work to make “life together” happen. And they’ve done just that. They’ve moved in together, bought a house and a car (!), rescued a dog (!!), and gotten engaged (!!!) all through this life-altering pandemic (!!!!).
The boy and girl have a lot to celebrate. And, if there’s one thing this last decade-plus has taught them, it is the importance of spending time with people you love and making memories together. Which brings us to June 4th, 2022 - twelve years to the day the boy and girl met in Istanbul. Ralph and Austeja can’t wait to go on a new adventure with each of you to celebrate love and make new, lifelong memories together.
Oh and if you haven’t seen a glimpse of our engagement:
