If you've watched How I Met Your Mother, this will make a lot of sense. If you haven't... it's still super sweet nonetheless.

The Dylan

1) Volunteer as a student manager for the PHHS girls’ tennis team and befriend Alex and Jade.

2) Keep in touch with Alex and Jade after you move to LA for school so they still invite you to things.

3) Show up to Alex and Jade’s 2015 Halloween party looking like a total goober decked out in UCLA tennis gear.

4) Identify the cute lil thang dressed up as a skeleton (cuz that’s a super original costume idea – but hey, she’s cute after all)

5) Work your unparalleled charm on this cute skeleton all evening, demonstrating your depth and sparking an intense curiosity.

6) Remember to ask for her name ... ahhh, yes of course! Dylan!

7) Disappear back to LA, inciting great wonder in Dylan.

8) Dylan wonders... who was that super handsome man and maybe the coolest guy I’ve ever met!?

9) Come home for winter break and then break your leg to earn early sympathy points to be banked well into the future, perhaps even subconsciously.

10) Invite Dylan over to hang out as many times as you can while you are home on winter break to maximize connection building and to take maximal advantage of ever-accumulating sympathy points since your leg is still broken.

11) Graciously accept a journal as a gift from Dylan and have her transcribe a deep, philosophical stream of consciousness to drive her curiosity about your depth, thus planting the seed for what could (and ultimately would blossom into a fruitful, fairytale romance)

12) Go back to LA to keep her wanting and wondering.

13) Fast forward to summer 2018, rekindle your deep friendship that waxed and waned over the past couple of years.

14) Hang out daily, feeling that building desire to explore a romantic connection with Dylan.

15) Take her to the beach for a romantic night walk at La Jolla Shores, then get milkshakes and sit in the car chatting about life for hours and hours.

16) Drive home together and feel the romantic tension building, but don’t give in just yet.

17) Instead, give in to your fears about starting another relationship with someone religious who you will have to leave behind in SD when you go back to LA AGAIN.

18) Despite your hesitation, invite her over to watch Sierra Burgess is a loser... a night she will later swear involved cuddling and kicking Devyn and Sydney out of the room (we didn’t cuddle) (Dylan wants to preface that she was absolutely not the one who kicked Dev and Syd out of the room)

19) The night before your first attempt at the MCAT, anxiously and excitedly go out to hang and chat in the car when Dylan spontaneously drops by after Disneyland.

20) Very awkwardly ask her to drive you to your house 2 doors down and then even more awkwardly, lean in for a kiss, the best kiss of your life (and hers (hopefully))

21) Quickly hop out of the car, take the MCAT, enjoy a week of visiting with Ty and ghost each other because you’re both scared to commit.

22) Find yourselves in other relationships of 4+ years.

23) When Dylan finally responds to your 4-year-old texts

trying to maintain your friendship in September 2023, hit her back with some dorky text like, “Holy moly! Out of the woodwork!”

24) Catch up a little over text, find out she lives in Manhattan Beach and then fall out of touch again until the following spring.

25) May 10th, 2024 go to Sydney’s graduation in LA and reach out to Dylan informing her you are in her neck of the woods, asking if she would be up for catching up.

26) After family dinner celebrating Syd, meet up with Dylan and talk deep into the night, just as you used to in years prior... it always was easy having insanely thoughtful conversations with her.

27) Start visiting her in LA regularly.

28) June 27th, 2024 ask her to be your girlfriend with some sappy gooey poem and reverse her claddagh ring.

29) Invite her out to Utah to visit and see how she likes what will no doubt become her new home.

30) Work your magic and have her uproot her life to move to SLC so she can live with you while you do school... damn, what a sacrifice, she must really like you.

31) Make sure to show her your eternal gratitude.

32) Watch all of How I Met Your Mother with her.

33) Buy her a ring and plan the proposal as sneakily as possible (she’s on to you)

34) Finish typing this out while she is standing next to you packing to go to San Diego the day before the big day, so unaware of what you’re doing.

35) Tell her you need to get work done the next day and want to go for a walk in the morning to make sure you get up and stay up (hahahaha she has no idea (again, probably already on to you))

36) Take her to Mission Trials, to a special spot, where the photographer is waiting.

37) Ask her that special question.

38) Hope she says yes.