Those that know me, know that I always joked that I would be married 3 times in my life because I never took anyone seriously. I was in this mindset when I started working in the Surgical ICU, where Jono also worked. His positivity was so contagious that we instantly became friends. I would visit him in his office to tell him of all the dates I had gone on the previous week and would get his advice (I never really listened to him). Our friendship continued during his time in the SLICU and when he left us for a new job I was sad because I knew I wouldn't have my person to debrief all my dates with LOL!

Aside from the likes on IG stories and kudos on workouts, it wasn't until our unit's Christmas party that Jono and I reconnected. He asked me to a workout class (Hot Yoga out of all things) and I said yes with no expectations. Another thing to note here, if you know me, you also know I ALWAYS said I would marry a Hispanic man because white guys were not "my type". After our yoga class, I knew I wanted to see him again because it just felt so easy to talk to him. We kept the trend of workout class dates going (we were in our health gurl era) and we would go on to do spin classes together to eventually run the bayou for fun.

Then the pandemic hit. We knew that the mental stress of not only being a healthcare worker but now choosing to quarantine together would either make or break us. We lived in our little bubble for 12+ months and made the most of it, we learned new skills and saw parts of each other we would have probably never seen. At that time, I realized that this very Caucasian man was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Jono is so carefree but driven, friendly but very loyal to his people, so athletic but also very much a couch potato. He is the perfect balance to me and I never thought I would find that. I now know that I only want to be married to one man in this life and I am lucky that my person is Jono. I can't wait to continue this life with him and bring on more life-changing events!

We initially met when I was a clinical pharmacist in the SLICU and a good nursing friend told me he had a new trainee and that she was... spicy. I didn't really know what that meant until she would come into the office, ask a question, tell me she didn't care halfway through the answer and then starting asking me about dating advice... A lot of dating advice 🤦🏻‍♂️ Over time our banter and interactions became more comfortable and it was a Monday routine to hear about her weekend adventures. Ultimately, a new job took me out of the SLICU and honestly I didn't really expect much interaction between us after that point. Enter Winter of 2019, I was unexpectedly still staying in Houston after a rough personal patch and get a random invite to the SLICU Christmas party. Cindy's there and we get right back to chatting, asking her about her latest dating story when she tells me she's focusing on being single for a bit. Cindy, single? I hopped on the chance and tried to think of a way to ask her on a date that wouldn't feel like a date. Can't do dinner, can't ask her out for drinks... Maybe yoga? Work out dates aren't really dates right? So I ask her to go to a yoga class with me and hope she won't see through the weak excuse of it not being a date and to my surprise she loved the idea. I did too until I realized it was HOT yoga... So not only do I have zero idea what I'm doing and can't touch my toes, but I also come to the realization that the first real time we hang out will be when she learns that I don't glisten, I freaking sweat. From there things took off and we started hanging out more and going on actual dates. We officially started dating February 2020 and two months into our relationship COVID hit. It was a weird time for everyone but looking back it was probably the thing that solidified our relationship the most. We went from casually seeing each other to being a daily emotional support and springboard for one another, and where she probably would have decided to run away around the 3 month mark, she was now stuck with me until the pandemic subsided. The rest is history. We decided to fully move in together about a year later and adopted a fur baby at the tail end of the pandemic. She got into NP school and we talked about possibly moving to Utah at some point. Neither of us expected a new job offer for myself quite literally a month after the initial conversation and we packed up and headed back to Salt Lake a couple years into our relationship. We had successfully gone through some of the most stressful relationship periods and handled it with grace. New jobs, balancing school and life, adopting a fur baby, and moving halfway across the country with one another. In May of 2023 I popped the question in front of her family and here we are!