Once upon a time, in the digital realm of Tinder, a swipe right was all it took to spark a flame. As corny as it sounds, that mid-November night was just another typical evening in the virtual world of dating, where profiles and bios are gateways to connections (or disconnections). But this night was one of the last, because that was the night we met. Within minutes of matching, Brian sent Carly Rose the first message, and within days both deleted the app. It pretty quickly felt like this could be It.

Our first conversation went along the lines of something like "don't worry, I'm not a serial killer" and ended with "how much salt do you like on your fries?" The conversation flowed effortlessly and endlessly, but work was busy and the holidays came and went, and we talked for two months without meeting in person. Brian say's he thought for sure he was about to be ghosted, but Carly Rose was oblivious to his fears, just trying to organize herself before heading into a relationship she thought could potentially be The One.

Finally, on January 23rd 2019, we finally met in person, and spent the evening playing Fallout 4 -- a video game -- together, the first of many game nights, and many more yet to come. CR remembers Brian being extra talkative that night, so much so that her roommate pulled her aside and said "that guy kinda talks a lot, huh?" Brian remembers walking into a telephone pole on our way to get Greek food.

Never one for bars and clubs, our dates soon turned into Target runs in Saugus, away from the bustle of the city, and long conversations eating Taco Bell in Brian's car, watching raccoons dig in the dumpsters. Days together turned into long nights playing Resident Evil 2, and before we knew it, we were meeting each other's families and making copies of our apartment key.

Our relationship blossomed and flourished, through the rough times of the pandemic and struggles with bad roommates, eventually getting an apartment to call our own, and expanding our family to include Zelda (who even got to help with the proposal).

Through the last 5 years, we always make time to share video games, walks with the dog, late night trips to McDonalds, and Saturday errands complete with Qdoba and Chore Juice (as Starbucks is affectionately known). We've been to too many concerts to count (Brian's seen The Wonder Years an awful lot for them to not be his favorite band at this point), gone to every mini golf course we've seen, spent plenty of time at TD Garden watching the Bruins (and the Blackhawks), put a lot of miles on our cars driving up and down Route 1 singing with the windows down, and gone on PLENTY of Taco Bell dates since.

A lot of people say that you can't form lasting connections through social media, but our love story is just one testament to the powerful (and positive role) that social media can have on our lives.

We're so excited to have you join us as we celebrate the next step forward, and we can't wait to share more of our love story with you.