Our first photo together! Our early dates included going to see plays, visiting art museums, and attending each other's birthday parties.

We camped at Mt. Diablo and fended off a horde of raccoons.

We climbed down the wall of Yosemite Valley with our friend Joey, got stuck in the valley, and had to hitchhike our way back to our car.

We went to SFMOMA so much that Zach started turning into the sculptures.

We took a weekend trip to gold country ghost towns, partly to help Mel research their book, but mostly because we got to camp and visit spooky buildings. Zach is still haunted to this day.

Our birthdays are three days apart, so we often throw joint parties. This was the year we turned Mel's apartment into a massive blanket fort.

We loved going to queer dance parties in the Bay with our friends! Pictured: one of our many trips to Hella Gay with our friend Tessa.

For our birthday we held a blind wine tasting and had people write tasting notes in a group spreadsheet. We also hid grape juice and manischewitz among the rest of Trader Joe's finest.

We spent a lot of time at the Berkeley Slam. Zach featured at a show before we left the Bay, and we sold chapbooks that Mel designed and illustrated.

We said goodbye to Berkeley and hit the road looking for a new place to call home. We traveled through 23 states over three months before landing in Minneapolis.

Our first New Year's Day in Minneapolis. We went sledding and had a snowball fight with our friend May.

Sweater game: strong.

Did you know Zach and Mel stole the Declaration of Independence?

One of our favorite Halloween costumes: Greg and Wirt from Over the Garden Wall.

We went to our first Twin Cities Pride with our friends Nat and Ollie.

We bought a house in Seward, the same Minneapolis neighborhood we were renting in! Mel instantly became a DIY daddy/house historian and Zach luxuriated in finally having his own office.

Blatantly disregarding Mel's cat allergy and Zach's fear of birds, Zach and Mel opened their home and their hearts to nine cats and seven varieties of parrot. They can't imagine life without little Nemo, Fuchsia, Cherry, Momo, Bilbo, Rallston, Deuteronomy "the Dude," Bencake, Tom, David Schwimmer, Zach Jr., Groucho, Ten-Tooth McGee, Old Jerry, Young Jerry, and the Brittneys.

As promised, Zach became poet laureate of Mars. He's coming out with a joint chapbook with the Curiosity rover.