You would think our paths would have crossed both growing up in San Diego, but we did not meet each other until our college years. Living 25 minutes apart for 21 years it is quite astonishing that two people with similar personalities and hobbies had not met. Amanda spent hours working at the Chili's location in La Mesa, and Justin would spend time with his friends at the billiard hall across the street, but still never ventured into the other's life.

In need of using Padres tickets he got for his birthday, Justin wanted to ask someone other than his brother to go to the game with. Following some quick texts, Amanda had agreed to go, but wanted a few other dates first. On a Thursday in August, we set up our first date: Axe Throwing, Korean BBQ, and dessert. We agreed the first date needed some sort of activity to see the competitive level that each of us had. Arriving promptly at 5, we met in the parking lot and started our journey with some throwing of the axes and billiards. Little did we know, we would spend the next 5 hours with each other enjoying every single moment and create a yearly tradition of recreating our first date.

We talked about how both of us had family vacation spots in the Sierra Nevadas about 30 minutes apart from each other. Sharing a passion for Mono Cone in Lee Vining, arguing over the proper pronunciation of "Mono", and our memories for shopping at Castoff with our families. Not only did we connect over vacations, but also our competitive desire. While there is a difference in the style of games we would play, Amanda has made it a point not to play boggle, scrabble or any other word games with Justin per the advice from Justin's family. So if you are ever looking at the games we have in the bookcase, no word games will be there.

A few dates (including the Padres game) turned into some deeper discussions and early on we both saw that we were in the same point of life, shared the same goals for our future, and had the same values. Amanda, under a similar circumstance as Justin with the Padres tickets, had tickets to go see Dierks Bentley. Prior to going to the concert, Justin knew he wanted to ask her to be in a relationship. In Justin fashion, he spontaneously gave Amanda the baseball with the question "Will you be my girlfriend?" before constructing a more elegant way of asking her. A new tradition has been born to go to Dierks Bentley every time he is in town.

Through the years we have added to our story. New friends, jobs, and memories that have impacted our lives. However, the biggest change being adding two dogs to our family. From traveling to new baseball stadiums in New York and Arizona, driving up to Disneyland a few times, and even taking a cruise, we are continuing to go build new memories and have new adventures. Through 3 and a half years of dating we have constantly grown our love for each other and finally on Valentine's Day in 2025, Justin proposed.

We could not be more excited to continue the next chapter of our lives, and look forward to celebrating our love for each other with family and friends on 6/27/26.

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