4v4 Co-ed Beach Volleyball in Santa Monica. Emily's team played against mine in the finals. It was the first time I ever saw her, and I was definitely impressed. Beautiful AND Athletic?! It was no surprise that her team won (like she always does). It was a bitter defeat for me, but it was even more tragic that no romance could be had ....yet.

Fast forward 15 MONTHS LATER! ... Bumble happened, Emily's picture was no doubt a right swiper. Who would've thought the best decision of my life happened in the span of a few seconds :D

Not the most "traditional" first meeting, it was a night out at Santa Monica bar Finn McCools with some friends. I won her over with my dance moves...

After a few dinners and hangouts at my place, I FINALLY asked her out on a proper date. I'm a big sushi fan, so easy decision to go to King Sushi in Santa Monica. Shared a few stories, had a few saki bombs, and I realized that night that this girl is one-of-a-kind.

Then I asked her on Valentine's Day to Father's Office. The date was great, but the most memorable part happened outside the restaurant. I challenged her to jump on to this ledge, probably 2.5 ft off the ground. After nailing it of course, I watch her jump about a foot too short, and completely slam her shins into the concrete, ouch! She still has the scars today! I could not stop laughing as she's half laughing half yelping in pain.

We we're dancing at the Old Crow in Huntington Beach on Cinco De Mayo hanging with some friends and my sister. After a few drinks, my sister asks me "Have you asked her to be your girlfriend?"

"No, I'm still taking it slow...it'll happen, don't worry"

"Andrew, you NEED to ask her! Do it NOW!"

And so I thought "you know what, it's been a few months now. I've enjoyed every moment with her. She makes me so happy. She's met my family, all my friends, and I've loved every minute of it. I'M SO READY"

Andrew walks up to Emily. "Hey,...so...I was thinking about it...and uh... I really want you...to be my girlfriend. What do you say?"

She said yes with no hesitation! Success!

May 20th, 2019 - Emily had talked about doing a Eurotrip after graduating, and I thought "man that would be cool to travel with her". At this point, Emily and I were dog and house-sitting for a friend. It was surreal to picture this life with her: our own place, a dog, what could be better?! It was at this time when we started talking about it more seriously, and I decided YOLO: LETS DO THIS.

Sept. 17th, 2017 - We traveled to Germany, Croatia, and Italy over 3 weeks. If we could travel for 3 weeks together and still enjoy one another, we knew we could make it. There were so many good memories: singing with strangers at Oktoberfest, hiking along the cliff side of Old Town, Dubrovnik, and sunset views at Cinque Terre to name a few. The best by far was at an Irish Bar in Dubrovnik, where Emily and I said "I love you" for the first time. It's the best trip I've been on in my entire life.

Emily, the workout-a-holic she is, thought it would be a great idea to do a half marathon together. My first thought was why would anyone want to go through that much pain, but then I thought....WHY NOT?! I never trained for anything like this before, but doing it with someone makes it that much better, but doing it with Emily was something to always look forward to. We had a great race, and finished side by side.

We had talked about moving in together for the last 4 months, and Santa Monica was definitely the front runner. It had fully set in that Emily was going to be the one I marry. We found an awesome spot in the heart of Santa Monica that's only 9 blocks from the beach!

We were on a hike in Golden, Colorado on the Apex trail, and as we're walking along for 3+ miles, I could barely talk: I was so nervous she would be on to me, I wouldn't let her touch my backpack, just said "DON'T WORRY, I GOT YOUR WATER"...and at the top of the trail, we both take a seat on a fallen tree and look out over Denver in the distance. I then tell her "Hey I know you're tired...but I need you to stand up."

It got a little blurry after that, I can't recall exactly what I said, but I know we both started crying.

And that's the story so far!