On our first date, we showed up at different locations of Highland Brewery. We figured it out pretty quickly, had a laugh about it on the phone and somebody (Carol) owed somebody (Kyle) a beer.

We wanted to move in together, but my parents hadn't quite gotten to know Kyle yet. While I was visiting my parents and talking to Kyle about this, he drove down the next night to have dinner with my family. The morning after, he needed to use my car to jump his car and took my keys with him on accident. My dad said we'd be together forever.

We hosted parties and slept in on the weekends together. We called our home the Fromagerie, which is French for house of cheese. And yes, we loved cheese but were also very cheesy with each other. Fun fact: Loaf's favorite cheese is mozzarella.

Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina in late September of 2024. A large tree hit our home in the middle of the night during the height of the storm, causing damage that prompted us to relocate and recoup our belongings. Our wonderful friends let us stay with them until we were ready to start over again.

Sunlight streams through and illuminates all the plants lining the shelves in our new apartment. We quickly made the place our own. We built legos together, had a painting night, cooked several Sunday morning breakfasts, and drank several versions of espressos until we found the right fit.

One of us thought we were going to a noteworthy steakhouse (Carol) and the other had some tricks up his sleeve (Kyle). What was seemingly a surprise belated birthday party ended up to be a secret mission known as Operation: Ring Requisition. Chief Inspector Loaf and Secret Agent Kale really knocked it out of the park