So I first met Autumn February 23rd, 2023 in Rochester when I went to a new dentist after my dental office in St Charles had been closed for over a year. Sheldon recommended the place due to the TVs with Netflix on the ceilings (and he’d get $25 referral) but anyways, I ended up
going on a snow day and she wasn’t super
excited to be waiting for her last patient of the day after all the others had cancelled due to the storm (she was the only hygienist who came in that day, and wasn’t originally supposed to see me). During the appointment we just had a good time chatting, she knew I was going to be moving to Utah to take a new teaching job out there and at the end of the appointment we had made plans that I should take her out skiing for her first time or take her climbing at Roca. Due to circumstances she ended up bailing on our plans but I told her I’d keep checking back with her once a month to see if she’d changed her mind. (Creepy? Maybe, relentless and devoted is how I like to see it) FINALLY, after rejection or bail after bail, she finally agreed to hang out, this was the end of May and I was leaving for a month long road trip across the country. Timing hasn’t always been her strong suit 😉 During the road trip when I would have service we’d send a couple texts or snaps, never more than a couple messages a day so I thought there was no chance this would last for a month and she’d still want to hang out once I got back based on the previous attempts. But, once we get back from our trip, we went on our first date; a quick paddleboard date in Rochester. Slowly but surely I kept breaking her down and she continued to hang out a little more often for a little longer. She wasn’t excited about the idea of going on dates with a guy that was set to move away in a month. But on August 1st, the day she tried to break it off with me, by the end of the day I had convinced her to be my girlfriend and that we should give the distance a try and just let what would happen happen. I moved out to Utah on August 9th, and after a couple visits back and forth, Autumn accepted a DH position in Utah, bought a new car and officially flew out to live with 2 doods and a dog on November 3rd!! She fell in love with Utah just as quick as I had and on our Thanksgiving road trip she was surprised with an engagement in one of our favorite places in southern Utah. And that is the long story trying to be made less long of how we got to where we are at today :)