The fireworks started on the 4th of July ( ;) ) when Chrissy's best friend and Daniel's cousin, Izzy, introduced us. We were immediately struck by each others' sense of humor and wanted to get to know each other more. That night, Chrissy followed Daniel on Instagram, he slid into her DMs, and by the following Sunday—the day before Chrissy flew back home—they knew they had crushes on each other. After spending the whole previous day together with Izzy and Mario seeing Daniel's favorite spots in his city of Spokane, Chrissy returned home, comforted by the pinky promise Daniel gave her that they'd continue getting to know each other in spite of the distance.

The FaceTime calls started the night Chrissy got back to San Diego and continued nearly every day (which literally gave Chrissy headaches lol) until Daniel came to visit at the end of August. Our day together at the San Diego Zoo was the most fun date either of us had ever been on. Daniel could only stay the weekend, so they (Chrissy) tearfully said goodbye and prepared for another bout of long distance.

September dragged on for both Chrissy and Daniel, despite a lot of enjoyable travel for each of us. Finally October came, and Chrissy made her way back up to Spokane—this time, for a full three weeks! It was the longest Daniel and Chrissy had ever had together, and we filled our time with memory-making, Chrissy making Daniel's jaw drop from her cooking, meeting Daniel's friends, inside joke-making, etc. At the beginning of November, Chrissy returned to San Diego, but she couldn't stay away long..

10 days, a days-long 104 degree fever, and a trip to urgent care later, Chrissy was already back in Spokane. A couple of days after her arrival, she and Daniel flew together to Alaska to spend Thanksgiving with Daniel's family. It was incredibly special to spend time together in the place Daniel grew up, have a family holiday together, and even spend Chrissy's birthday together.

We even got to take family pictures all together, which worked swimmingly as a mini pre-engagement shoot!

Chrissy returned once again to Spokane (can't stay away from this man) in December to enjoy the holiday season with Daniel. We bought and decorated our first Christmas tree, enjoyed the light display in Manito Park, drank hot cocoa, and enjoyed the magic of Christmastime together before setting off to spend Christmas with Chrissy's family.

Chrissy's family gathered in Arkansas to spend Christmas together. She was delighted to introduce Daniel to her family and, unsurprisingly, everyone loved Daniel, and vice versa. It couldn't have gone better, and meeting each other's families increased in us both an already strong sense of how "right" we are for each other. After Christmas, Daniel flew back to Spokane and Chrissy to San Diego, our final spurt of long distance.

On January 12, Daniel flew to San Diego to move Chrissy up to Spokane—though Chrissy still misses San Diego very much, the move was so much more than worth it because finally the long distance was over for good! 28 hours of driving later, they arrived, and Chrissy and Daniel started settling into life together in the same town.

On January 27, 2024, not even two weeks after Chrissy moved to Spokane, Daniel asked Chrissy to marry him inside a gondola on the Spokane SkyRide. Even though Chrissy knew the question was coming sometime in the coming months, she was absolutely shocked when it happened. Daniel did a great job of keeping it a surprise and making it a special, intimate moment between the two of them.

Our friends, Brad and Iryna, took pictures of us to celebrate our engagement. Now we cannot wait to celebrate our marriage with you in just a few short months. Cheers to love!