Our first date! We have connected online over a comment about hamburgers and “small-town

bars” and agreed to meet to play video games. Of course, we are both a little nervous and still basically

strangers, but these first connections are enough to keep us going in the early days. Izzy, Brandon’s

fluffy grey cat, is instantly charmed by the new guest and accepts him in the pack from day one.

Our first road trip together to beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico! We put up a tent together and

spend the night camping in Santa Fe National Forest including a campfire. Meow Wolf and Ojocaliente

hot springs are highlights of the trip. Brandon decides he is done “roughing it” and we have a nice stay in

a rented yurt. On this trip we start to really discover more of our shared interests including the joy of

being out and about in nature!

Our first Christmas and the 4-month mark! We spend it separately as Brandon goes home to

Michigan to visit family and Zeke stays in El Paso for the holidays. Both of us feel the absence of the

other on the holiday, and it is a very happy reunion back in El Paso for New Years.

Brandon is admitted to the hospital while sharing the beauty of Santa Fe with his parents. Zeke

drives 600 miles round-trip to get Brandon home so his parents can make their flight from El Paso. On

the drive home is the first time we both realize how much we care for each other, and we both

separately (at the time) make the decision we are in this for good.

Brandon turns 30! He is celebrated in the Moreno house and well accompanied by his newly

adopted family. Brandon’s Spanish runs out by the middle of the evening, but he continues smiling and

in good spirits. We also celebrate with a quick trip to Colorado, do some camping, and visit Brandon’s

brother and his family. During the trip, we have our first big fight "over (ultimately) nothing"

Fourth of July is a quiet holiday for us as Covid restrictions continue, but as our respective

“bubbles” contract and converge, our relationship continues to grow stronger. We each learn more

about the other and ourselves observing how the other goes around life, their walk, and their ways

around people. We take social distancing to heart and make several trips to the great outdoors that fall!

During this time, we realize we have become each other’s best friend and #1 partner in crime. Zeke

never puts the camera down and often falls behind on our many hikes, and Brandon keeps running out

of silly faces to make when he eventually catches back up.

Our first Christmas together! We see the Morenos on Christmas Eve, but we spend Christmas

Day at home and basically merge with the couch after a full day marathon of Hallmark holiday movies,

coffee and tea, and companionship. Both of us are happy to find that we connect through something as

silly and corny and predictable as those movies. Judging the perfectly matched couples, the inevitable

complicating factor, and the uniformly happy endings in those holiday movies is a good way of bonding

if you ask us!

We ring in the new year at Zeke’s new apartment in Carlsbad. It is a little bittersweet that we

still have separate apartments but necessary for each other’s work. We spend the whole next day doing

one of our favorite things—Hiking! Or in this case, spelunking through Carlsbad Caverns. This is also the

day we buy our National Park Passport books, starting a journey to visit them all that continues today.

We also both enjoy skiing, and we adopted it as another more activity we do together and with friends.

Our next big “together” trip, this time to northwestern New Mexico. We enjoy Indian takeout

and the sunset on some beautiful cliffs and Zeke gets some great camera shots. Zeke appreciates like a

rare gem the silly faces Brandon shows no one else but him. It’s a quick getaway trip, but a very

memorable one.

Zeke’s sister college graduation, Brandon joins the Moreno’s in celebration.

Most of the Covid restrictions come to an end, and with that our adventuring out and about

picks up speed. Brandon is on an ER rotation in Las Vegas and the heat (literally and figuratively) is

intense. Zeke’s arrival after a sweep up through Colorado and Utah is a breath of fresh air and we enjoy

visiting the Strip, Mount Charleston, and Red Rock Canyon. The beginning of Brandon’s fourth and final

year of medical school in El Paso has us talking about Brandon’s upcoming graduation and where it is we

are going to move to next.

Zeke finally gets to visit Brandon’s family and hometown in Michigan for the first time! Zeke

meets all the extended family and struggles to keep up with all the names and relationships, but he

already feels like part of the family because of the warm welcome. Highlights of the trip are a combined

camping trip to the UP with Brandon’s sister and her partner, the last visit to the lake house in AuGres,

and some alone time in the Indiana Dunes and Chicago (one of Zeke’s favorite cities) before we head

home.

We ring in the new year skiing in Colorado! Traveling together is now second nature: Brandon

expects there to be multiple stops to take photos of everything and anything, and Zeke expects Brandon

to pause and read every single sign in sight. After a whole day of skiing, we begin the new year with a

beautiful drive through the snow-covered countryside and peaks.

It’s Match Day for Brandon and WE’RE MOVING TO OHIO! Brandon matches to Emergency

Medicine at Wright State University/Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We are both excited to begin this

new exciting and likely challenging chapter in our lives.

We celebrate Easter with the Moreno family, and it feels like a warm send-off to see everybody

all at once before our departure. Brandon and Zeke are definitely going to miss every one of their

friends and family staying behind in El Paso, and wish they could all move to Ohio with them. The next

week we fly to Ohio and sign our lease. It all happens so fast, and we both feel very excited for the

possibilities ahead.

Brandon receives his M.D., and the Reifs and Morenos meet each other in El Paso to celebrate.

Congratulations Dr. Reif! Zeke is very proud of the budding professional Brandon has become, and

Brandon is grateful for Zeke’s full support through this journey. The next week we load up the U-haul

and drive cross-country to our new home. Because we have merged two households, affectionately

referred to as “the purge”, our apartment is at first pretty empty. We need to get some new furniture,

but it is finally OURS.

First day of residency for Brandon! He is very nervous but determined to be a good doctor and

learn how to take care of patients. Zeke, of course, is right there with words of encouragement and

support, getting settled into working from home and beautifying their space with plants and art.

Nobody at this point would suspect differently, but our first weekend off together and we are

taking a hiking trip to Kentucky and Tennessee and exploring some very beautiful areas…again. “I could

do a lifetime full of this” is frequently heard. Smiles, laughs, and the occasional bickering to keep a little

drama abound. We never have a dull moment.

WE ARE ENGAGED! On our vacation trip to the Pacific Northwest, we decide we are going find a

place to propose to each other. Compelled by the inspiration of the Pacific coast and two rocky cliffs

surrounded by the crashing waves on all sides, we hold a small quartzite together and make lifelong

promises. Realizing we are winded on the way back to the car and need to lose a few pounds, these

rocks are affectionately dubbed “our spirit whales”. Mother nature celebrates with us by giving us the

most beautiful emerald sunsets over the ocean. We spend the other half of our vacation in El Paso, celebrating Zeke’s birthday and sharing the

news of our engagement. Smiles and hugs all around, and a nice visit back to the Southwest. Get ready

world, this dynamic duo is tying the knot!

We spend our holiday celebrations with the Reifs this year, and what else can you call it but a

foreshadowing of our merging cultures through marriage: Zeke teaches the Reifs how to make tamales

and they are a hit at all the Christmas parties. We both appreciate again how blessed we are to enjoy

our parents and siblings, and extended family. Many happy memories already, and we look forward to

so many more together.

Springtime again, and that means we have now been in Ohio a whole year! We have learned

how to live together, each other’s quirks and pet peeves. We decorated our apartment that now truly

feels like a home. We got engaged and are starting to plan the wedding. We continue to grow together,

dress more alike, finish each other’s sentences and we cannot wait to see what’s next!

It’s finally here! Our wedding, and we hope you will be here to celebrate with us!