About Us

Sarah Beth Utley, by Matthew

Sarah grew up in the town of Newbury Park, just north of Los Angeles, with her amazing parents, super fun three older brothers, and three loving grandparents. She spent her childhood pursuing creative activities like writing and 4-H and explored the United States with her family on many many epic road trips. She is absolutely brilliant and followed up her undergraduate degree in physiology from UCSB with a Ph.D. from USC studying liver stem cells, and then completed a post-doctoral placement at UCSF studying stem cells in relation to trachea development for disease treatment. Throughout her post-secondary education Sarah was part of several competitive Ultimate Frisbee teams and she's run seven half-marathons with a goal to reach ten before her knees give out. She now works as a medical writer, helping pharmaceutical companies get new drugs to market. She loves to cook and bake and has a soft spot for British TV dramas.

I knew Sarah was special on our first date. We met at a wine bar and of course I arrived early. Instead of going in and sitting alone nervously I walked around the block and on my way back I spotted her on the street. I picked up my pace and we intersected at the door of the bar. Despite having never met me in person she immediately gave me a big hug and a smile and we went inside. I noticed the menu had a delicious sour beer on tap: Rodenbach's "Grand Cru." I instantly ordered that and Sarah followed my lead, eager to try something new, totally unconcerned with whether or not she'd like it. I love that she is always ready for new adventures, small and large.

I quickly discovered that we share a ton of interests, but more importantly that Sarah shares my general outlook on life. She feels, as I do, that life is good, that cultivating relationships with friends and family is super important, that experiences are better than objects, and that one should always try new things. Over the weeks and months of our first year I quickly realized that I had struck gold on my first attempt at online dating and that I could easily spend the rest of my life with Sarah. By our one-year dating anniversary that feeling had changed from "could" to "must." She brightens all of my days and reminds me not to be too serious. She is a true partner in all aspects of my life and supports me in all that I do. I cannot wait to be married to her and to begin the rest of our lives together.

Matthew Christopher Lausch, by Sarah

Matt grew up in Canada, near Toronto, and spent the majority of his life there braving the humid summers and freezing winters prior to moving to the ever foggy and mild climate of San Francisco, California. His love of computers started early on and the special effects in movies inspired him to pursue a career in the tech side of film. Moving to SF to work for Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) was the culmination of years of experience and a love of both film and Star Wars. He now designs tools that enable computer graphics artists to blow your mind with special effects on the big screen. It's a pretty awesome job! When he isn't helping artists save the universe, one X-wing at a time, he spends his mornings climbing at Planet Granite and evenings cooking at home with me (he is an amazing cook!). After moving to SF he figured he would give the online dating scene a try and that's how he met me (more details below in the Our Story section).

I truly cannot say enough about Matt, although I am clearly very biased. I spent a long time on the "online dating circuit," as I like to call it, before meeting Matt and was frankly getting pretty tired of it. But after our first date, I remember telling a friend "oh man...I'm in trouble with this one. He is so awesome." From the moment we met he took my breath away with his hilarious sense of humor, warmth, patience, and love. His epic thirst for traveling, the outdoors, new food, and exciting beers fills our lives with adventure. And I am always blown away by his sure-footedness when he's clambering up rocks when we are hiking (I always insist his code name is "Billy Goat"); I'm always slipping and scaring him witless on every set of stone stairs. He is the most devoted, loving, caring, and funny partner in life I could have ever hoped for. Our lives meshed together so easily, as his family and friends have welcomed me into their lives as well. I never realized how happy and complete another person could make me feel until I met Matt. I love him more every day and cannot wait to be his wife.

Our Story, written together

Sarah and Matthew met online, as is the style these days. Sarah had been ignoring the online dating world for a few months at the time but happened to notice Matthew's message on OkCupid and it piqued her interest. They struck up an awkward conversation online (they both continue to be masters of the awkward) and quickly realized it would be worthwhile to meet up in person.

Sarah suggested a drink at InnerFog, a wine bar in the Inner Sunset neighborhood near UCSF where Sarah was doing post-doctoral work. They hit it off immediately, sharing stories of work, family, and food over a couple glasses of Rodenbach Grand Cru, a Flanders Red Ale that is pretty much the epitome of the style. Sarah hadn't experienced much sour beer before and was an instant fan, much to Matthew's delight.

The second date went great and then the following Saturday was a rare sunny and warm February day in San Francisco. Matthew decided a trip to the beach was in order and invited Sarah to join him. She lived very close to Ocean Beach and wasted no time getting out there. They spent hours talking while walking at the edge of the surf (Matthew’s jeans got soaked due to Sarah regularly straying too close to the water despite her attempts to restrain her enthusiasm for running into the ocean every time she sees it). As evening approached they got beers at the Beach Chalet Brewery and then some thai food for dinner. This date solidified things for both of them, even though they didn't admit that to each other at the time.

That week, Matthew joined Sarah and her friends for "Disney Night," a weekly event where they cooked dinner and worked their way through the animated Disney movies in chronological order. Sarah's friends welcomed Matthew and he had a good time despite the bad movie (Thumbelina...not technically Disney, but it made the list anyway). "Disney Night" (now "Fine Cinema Night") quickly became one of Matthew's favourite events of the week and soon he was occasionally hosting too.

Despite some rather extensive travel plans on Matthew's part in the first three months of their relationship, Sarah and Matthew rapidly grew closer and soon were doing as much together as possible. They've shared adventures all over California (including lots of camping), as well as to Florida, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada, and Massachusetts. Matthew has also toured Sarah extensively around southern Ontario and they've travelled together internationally to Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and England. They have plans to continue travelling as much as possible, and are intending to honeymoon in Japan and Hawaii.

After their last international trip they immediately headed off for Matthew's first visit to Yosemite (camping, of course). Matthew was prepared and after a perfect hike up out of the valley to see some amazing waterfalls he gently guided Sarah off trail to a secluded look-out spot, presented a ring, and asked her to marry him. She said yes. :)