Our story started as I was driving out to Castle Rock with a friend for some lunch. Just as I was heading out, my friend casually mentioned that one of her high school buddies, Tyler, was going to join us. Was that okay? Of course, I said no problem.

Honestly, I was kind of glad she invited a friend because, as usual, I was running late. And—true to form—I got completely lost on the way there. So, by the time I finally showed up at Cava, I was a flustered mess—sweaty, windblown, and trying to mask the panic I was feeling. And there was Tyler, just casually sitting there. His very first impression of me? Me, a flustered tornado walking into the restaurant, telling everyone how hopelessly lost I had gotten.

After lunch, we decided to keep the good vibes going by heading to a local thrift store. I kept walking around, making jokes about how every item at thrift stores could potentially be dead people things. You know, just casual offbeat humor. Honestly, I’m not sure if my wit or the general fun of the day caught Tyler’s attention, but next thing I knew, he invited all of us over to his place.

So, we picked up my friend’s dog and headed over to Tyler’s house. And then... things took a turn for the wild.

The weather had gone from “mild Colorado breeze” to “full-blown windstorm,” and I was holding the leash of my friend’s dog, who was having the time of its life. Both my hair and the dog’s fur were flying everywhere. I couldn’t see a thing. In my blind state, the dog must’ve thought I was some sort of tree or post, and decided I was a perfect target for a little mark of affection.

Yes, the dog peed on me.

Now, I couldn’t even see what was happening until I looked down and realized that I was covered in dog urine. The worst part? I lived 45 minutes away, so running home to change wasn’t an option. But Tyler, being the generous person he is, offered me a pair of his old pants to wear. He even mentioned they were his favorite pants, which—looking back—seems like an odd thing to mention while offering someone pants, but I was just happy to have dry clothes.

The rest of the night went on without too much drama. We sat by the fire and shared stories. And I couldn’t help but think… well, this was turning out to be an interesting day. I guess that’s how the whole pants thing became the icebreaker that kept us talking.

But of course, I had to return the pants somehow. And thus began the texting. At first, it was mostly focused on getting the pants back to Tyler, but I quickly realized that holding the pants hostage was a genius way to keep the conversation going. I didn’t want to just drop them off at a group hangout and confuse everyone, plus, I might be able to get something in return. So, I ransomed the pants for Taco Bell. And, of course, it worked. I got my Taco Bell, Tyler got his pants back, and the hanging out didn’t stop there.

As we kept texting, it became clear—there was something more here. We went from dog pee stories to real conversations about everything: movies, family traditions, and, oh yeah, the fact that Tyler was about to leave for military training in Texas for a month. Great timing, right?

So, there we were, texting every day and starting to really like each other. But then… the news hit. Tyler was off to Texas for a whole month of training. And of course, I feared we’d fizzle out before we even had a chance to really start. So, in classic “I’m not ready for this” fashion, I decided to end it—for absolutely no logical reason. Tyler later joked that I “broke up with him,” but that’s not how it went down. I wrote him a two- to three-page letter with all the reasons I liked him, but also why I couldn’t date him. It made zero sense, but at the time, it felt right.

And then, I decided to write a simple two-sentence text to let him know it wasn’t going to work out.

We stopped talking.

But fate had other plans.

A few months later, my friend—the one who’d originally introduced us—wanted to plan a trip to northern Colorado, so she invited everyone to a cabin. I had to admit to her that I hadn’t talked to Tyler in a while. So, when she reached out to him, he said, “Sure, but check with Brittany.” Cue my panic. I had to explain to her that I’d gone completely 0 dark 30 on Tyler, and I was just a little embarrassed by it all. But, to my surprise, she wasn’t weird about it and thought it’d be fine.

I reached out to Tyler and asked if he wanted to hang out—just to make sure things wouldn’t be totally awkward for the trip. And as soon as we met up, everything changed. I realized, wait, I really liked this guy. But I was so scared I’d messed things up that I didn’t know how to bring it up.

Then, one day, I finally worked up the courage to ask him if he’d ever consider dating me. But—plot twist—right before I asked, Tyler beat me to it and asked me out. Of course, I said yes.

We’re never really normal, though, are we? Our unofficial first date turned into a dinner with my mom. She was in town for some legal work, and I’d mentioned Tyler in passing. She decided she wanted to meet him—but the only time that worked was before our first date. So, the day before, I asked Tyler if he’d meet my mom. Calm, cool, and collected, he agreed. And just like that, our first official date was with family present.

We did eventually go on our first official date without my mom. Just the two of us—enjoying each other’s company, talking about everything from our dreams to how we write with our non-dominant hand. For the record, I totally proved I write better with my right hand than Tyler does, and he’s kept the receipt with proof in his phone ever since.

But the story doesn’t stop there. About 30 days after our first date, Tyler moved to Alabama. Of course, right after we started dating, I went back to Minnesota to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. So, essentially, we crammed as much quality time as we could into about a week before we had to go long-distance. But it worked, and we got to enjoy our time together—even celebrating Christmas a few weeks into dating.

We kept dating, and time flew. Tyler moved to Alabama for flight school while I stayed in Colorado. Long-distance was sometimes tough—phone calls, FaceTime, expensive flights, and way too many late-night texts. But we made it work, and even found creative ways to make each other laugh from miles away.

Then came the crazy decision. Tyler left the warm, southern charm of Alabama and his hometown of Colorado to move to the land of polar vortexes—Minnesota—for me.

Then, in December, Tyler and I were back in Colorado, enjoying the mountains and reminiscing by going to all the places we used to visit when we first met. And that’s when he took the opportunity to pop the big question. On December 26th, after over a year of long-distance, countless phone calls, and multiple states apart, he proposed to me.

And of course, I said yes.

So, after the dog pee, the awkward pants, and all the miles apart… here we are, living our very own epic adventure, full of love, laughter, and hopefully, fewer pants mishaps.