Ironically, though both from Colorado--growing up only an hour and half apart from each other--we met in San Diego while getting our degrees at Point Loma Nazarene University. Mutual friends of ours were hoping for us to date before we even met. But, not wanting our interactions to be forced, they waited until an interaction might happen organically. And it did! When I came back from dinner one night I told my roommate about a cutie I saw in the caf and to my surprise it was exactly who my roommate was hoping to set me up with. Fate????? Divine intervention????? Luck??? Who's to say. Regardless, Blake and I finally were introduced to each other outside the caf. And we would continue ~courting~ one another through run-ins, group dinners, and one-on-one meals at... THE CAF <3.

EVENTUALLY, we would see each other in other places like basketball games, playing spicy uno in dorm rooms, or chapel. So college. Three months after our initial meeting, Blake nervously asked for my number and officially asked me on a date. He planned a surprise night on Valentines day no less!! Bold!! We ate at Ketch, one of the best sea food places in San Diego (in my humble opinion), where we both ordered fish and chips. After, he had his friend pick us up and drive us to Shelter Island where two of his other friends had set up a bonfire, flowers, ice cream, and a curated first date playlist. Needless to say, we had a great time and talked for hours before he dropped me back off at my dorm.

We officially started dating the week quarantine began and school closed down for the semester, HA! So, our first five months were long distance until I moved to Colorado and we could be much closer while school was online. School was turbulent but having each other as a constant through COVID, changing friend groups, and the regular stresses of college made life manageable, and regardless of the chaos we had SO much fun. From beach days, to trips to CO, family reunions, playing pickle-ball with my brothers, Padres games, anniversaries at Disneyland, kayaking, taking classes together, concerts, library dates, game nights, movie marathons, camping trips, Saturday adventures meandering through antique shops, trying new foods, AND LOTS AND LOTS OF TREATS dating each other has been a blast :)

We graduated May 6th, 2023 and Blake took me to a celebratory dinner at Costerra where we were able to have a moment of calm amidst the graduation festivities. After, we went to Shelter Island where I thought we were just grabbing dessert, but Blake had a surprise there for me instead. This time, my friends had set up a bonfire, blanket, candles and flowers while we were at dinner. 1,177 days after we had our first date in that same spot, Blake asked me to marry him, to which I obviously said yes.

We've been having so much fun planning the wedding and are SO EXCITED to see all of you there!!! Hope you enjoyed walking through our story with us as much as we've loved walking through it with you. xo