Marina was born and raised in the former Soviet Union in the beautiful city of Odessa. Fifteen years ago, Marina and her parents, Janet and Tony, moved to Los Angeles and lived there ever since.

Chris was born and raised in Los Angeles, although he spent many summers growing up in the enchanting Le Pouliguen, France.

Marina and Chris met in 2003 while working on their Master Degrees at the University of Southern California. (You know their children will be very smart!) They fell in love and stayed together despite distances (Marina decided to live in Spain for three months), withdrawals (Chris works in public accounting), emotional challanges (they remodeled a house together), and any other hardships that life threw their way.