It's Mutual!

Donnie's Perspective: In the late Summer months of 2022, I was about to delete Mutual and other dating apps for approximately the 75th time. A few days before I was set to do so, I saw a cute redhead with bagpipes and a charming wit pop up on my swiping screen. Needless to say, I was interested, and wondered why I hadn’t seen Kari before on the app. This turned out to be due to the fact that she lived an hour away in Bountiful. I was lucky that we were both swiping on the day she visited my neck of the woods, and that feeling of luck persisted as we kept talking. Our dialogue quickly moved from texting, to Marco Polo, to our first date at the Ogden art walk.

Kariann's Perspective: That first date was indicative of our entire relationship. After walking through the art exhibits on Ogden's 25th Street, we ended up at Cold Stone for ice cream. I don't remember exactly what we ordered, but I do remember that I didn't like my ice cream... but I loved Donnie's. So we tossed mine and ate his. I cannot tell you the number of times since then that I have stolen his drink, his shake, his snack, his meal, etc... and he just rolls with it. While we were eating our (ahem... his) ice cream, I started telling all about a musical I saw one week prior. And when I say I started "telling" him about it, what I mean is I played the album on my phone and serenaded him, lol. Donnie suggested we go for a drive and continue listening to Broadway tunes. We ended up driving to a random park and found ourselves a lovely park bench to sit on while we kept the Broadway tunes going. Three HOURS later, we decided it was late enough and we should probably head home.

Kariann's Perspective: With me in Bountiful and Donnie in Logan, dates meant we had to plan for logistics. Donnie mentioned that he was driving home (Hatch, UT) for the weekend and I realized he would be passing directly through Bountiful, so I suggested we plan our second date around that. We ended up deciding that he would stop by my place on his way back to Logan and I would provide dinner. Well, that meant I had to figure out what to make for dinner. I gave Donnie a few options, one of them being "Tuscan Chicken." I asked Donnie for his opinion and his text response was: "I think I'm partial to Tuscan Children." My response was something like "I'm not sure I could get them here in time, but I will definitely give it a shot."

Donnie's Perspective: After our second date at Kari’s house, three things were very clear to me:

1. Kari is an excellent cook.

2. Her cat wouldn’t kill my dog (probably).

3. This woman made me laugh harder than just about anyone I had ever met.

Donnie's Perspective: This is the part where I’m tempted to say “from that point on, everything was easy" — and while many things have been, our relationship hasn’t always fit neatly into the category of “ease." It has been a challenge to navigate a growing relationship while living more than an hour apart. It has been a challenge to find and prioritize time around our lives, jobs, leadership positions, and random life events.

It hasn’t been easy — but goodness has it been worth it.

After a few more date nights and extended weekend hangouts, Kari and I decided to make things official just before the holiday season, on December 11th, 2022. In the time since we became official, we have frequented adorable Pocatello diners, crushed many a gym session, started friendly fights over “Cover Your Assets," jet skied in San Diego, and racked up a more than decent amount of Trader Joe's mileage.

A moment in our relationship that always makes me smile is the “Kari shark” saga. After a night of exhausting grading and lecture prep, I turned to a bit of gaming, specifically, I launched a game titled “ Maneater," where players attempt to grow from a tiny shark into a terror of the deep.

Kari, also exhausted from her job and additional bagpipe practice, thought it would be funny to narrate my gaming experience to the tune of “ baby shark..."

Kari: “Baby shark, do do do do do...”

Kari: “Growing shark do do do do do...”

Kari: "Tiger shark do do do do do do...”

At one point, I encountered an Orca (killer whale) — the second I exclaimed “I’m getting attacked by an orca!” I hear—

Kari: “Orca.. shark, do do do do do...”

Donie: "Kari, no.. Kari...an orca is not a shark.”

* pause *

Kari: “Noooot a shark, do do do do do...”

Kariann's Perspective: The "Baby Shark" tune is now and forevermore a staple of our relationship. We sincerely apologize.

Donnie's Perspective: After a lovely summer together, we talked more seriously about “the future." As we discussed our goals in life and marriage, it became clear that the vision of what we each wanted fit almost perfectly with the ideas and dreams of the other person. I had found my best friend, and one who was willing to follow me across the country to pursue a PhD. For so many reasons, I knew in September that I wanted to marry Kari. With the help of some dear friends, I popped the question on January 22nd, 2024 – we ended the night together at an Ogden Park, just like we had done on our very first date.

A year and a half removed from that first mutual conversation, and I cannot imagine life without my dad-joke tolerating, bagpipe-playing, broadway-jamming gal.