I moved to Scottsdale in June of 2017. I was 23 and didn’t know a soul out there. Aside from a brief year in nearby Indianapolis, I had lived within 15 minutes of my parents my entire life and was chasing adventure, change and my career.

As I hugged my dad goodbye in our Columbus, Ohio driveway, he whispered in my ear, “now don’t go meeting a boy out there.”

While I rolled my eyes then before hopping into the driver’s seat of my 2007 Toyota Corolla, I never forgot those words, especially when my life changed course just six months later.

As the saying goes, “a guy walks into a bar….”

The common mind pictures a girl, dressed to the nines, as the boy approaches her from the far side of the bar. The two talk the night away and fall in love. Well, for Brett and I, our story goes a little something like this:

Brett walks (maybe stumbles) into a Scottsdale bar and there I am, head to toe in Ohio State attire, with no regard for those around me, screaming at the TV, rooting on the only love in my life: Ohio State football.

I don’t notice Brett until he taps me on the shoulder – I will never understand what drew him to me that night because when I say I was screaming, I was SCREAMING at the game. I guess we can call it fate.

So there Brett is, tall, handsome, charming, everything I’d ever wanted. How do I respond?

“Unless you are going to buy me a drink, I’m not talking to you until this game is over.”

He comes back first with a bucket of Michelob Ultra, later with tequila. Ohio State wins the Big Ten Championship and I give in.

Brett and I talk, we dance, and he walks me three miles home. I leave him with my number at my door, not sure if I’d ever see him again.

Travel

Courtyard by Marriott Columbus OSU

Hyatt Place Columbus/Osu