Our story begins even before it began, which we didn't know until later of course. Chelsea was living her dreams, kicking butt at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and in her end-of-year job search, interviewed for a teaching job out in California. The interview went well, as she thought it might; the principal who she would work with was a mutual friend and had taught at the same public charter high school as Chelsea back in Washington, D.C.

Chelsea ended up turning down that job. Had she accepted, she would have worked on the same teaching staff as Johnny, who had accepted a teaching job at that school. Let's say that again: Chelsea and Johnny had the chance to be teacher peers on the same teaching staff back in 2017. This was a missed opportunity, but fate had a back-up plan.

Fast forward 3.5 years: it's fall 2020, and the world is still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, although Dallas is inching its way to more normal every-day behaviors. Grocery stores are open, restaurants are serving, schools are back in session. Back in 2017, Chelsea had ended up accepting a job as an Assistant Principal in a Dallas public charter district, and now that schools were in-person again, she was finally getting to know some of her new colleagues who had started that fall. One she was specifically excited to get to know was her new peer AP. His name was Michael, and he is a very important part of this story.

Michael wasn't new to Texas, per se, but he was returning to Dallas from living in the Bay Area. He was very knowledgeable about creating a positive school culture, and how to build strong and meaningful relationships with students, and these were things that impressed Chelsea deeply. She knew she could learn a lot from Michael, and was excited to get to know him better. Finally, in October, they were able to make plans to bond over libations: Halloween it was! Michael had a buddy who had just moved to Dallas, too, and asked if he could join. "He used to teach with me back in California. Y'all will get along." It was a date.

You've probably predicted accurately that Michael's buddy was Johnny. Johnny, like Michael, had moved to DFW for the fall 2020 school year. Johnny was sick of Bay area costs, and wanted a fresh start in a new city. He had accepted a Social Studies teaching job at a high school in the same district as Chelsea and Michael, and was looking to make friends. He didn't expect to meet his future wife during his first social outing in Dallas, but was pleasantly surprised by how much fun he had with Chelsea on that Halloween night. So much fun, that he immediately got her number and the next day, asked her out on a date.

Chelsea, recently out of a previous relationship, said no, but that "he was her people." It only took one rock climbing session, two day-long marathon "just friends" outings, and a handful of times eating Johnny's spring rolls to convince her otherwise.

And as they say, the rest is history. We left Dallas in summer 2022 for Johnny to pursue his dream of being a lawyer; he is almost halfway through his time at Drake Law School. It is worth noting that while Dallas was where we met, Des Moines has become our first true home together, complete with our combined households of two dogs (Thunder and Lightning) and two cats (George and Winona). And of course, October is our month. Consequently, we could not be more excited to celebrate with you in October 2024 in Des Moines! Thank you for being a part of our continued journey together, and see you soon :)

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