I moved to Lubbock, Texas in June 2016 after just completing my Masters in Adult & higher Education at Northern Illinois University and accepting my first full time job working as a Residence Life Coordinator at Texas Tech University. I had interned at TTU in summer 2015 and couldn't wait to move from the chilly Midwest to sunny West Texas.

I began this journey with zero intention of getting into a serious relationship anytime soon. Little did I know, God had a different plan written in the books. A couple of months into my new life in Texas, I was assisting with 'move-in weekend', welcoming several thousand students to the residence halls. With so many students living on campus at Tech, there are 2 days of 'move-in', and in 2016, an invitation for all students to move in on the same day was accidentally sent out. This caused a bit of a human traffic jam in our all freshmen buildings, and sent several staff to aid in alleviating the stress and managing the process--even the IT guys. Mark and I took our lunch break around the same time, and ended up sitting next to one another. As we carried on conversation naturally, the small talk was interrupted when Mark asked me if I have a favorite part of the country and about what traveling I'd done throughout my life. We shared stories about visiting family members all over the country. My eldest brother and his wife had recently moved to Washington and Mark had recently visited Washington on his own. I told him that I would love to go visit them someday and see the Pacific Northwest while he told me of the many times he'd traveled there and how gorgeous and fun it is. Our short lunch break ended, and we parted ways, both feeling some type of connection.

A few weeks went by, and Mark and I had gotten to know each other quite well through small interactions at work and Facebook messages and texting in the evening. Mark's office was next to the mailroom at work, and I hadn't picked a piece of mail up late since August 20th. Still, I was not interested in getting into a relationship, let alone one with someone who worked for the same department. Mark asked me if I was interested in getting coffee at Sugar Brown's on September 15th after work. I had another commitment at 7pm, so I agreed to get coffee knowing if it ended up being awkward, I would need to leave shortly anyway. Speeding away at 6:45pm, we were already making plans to see each other again over the weekend.

Registry