Like all great modern love stories, ours began with an app download. In April 2024, we matched on Bumble—a dating app where the girl makes the first move and the guy only has 24 hours to reply before poof! the match disappears forever.

Kate saw Danny’s profile and noticed he was a band director. With her master’s degree in oboe performance, she knew she had the perfect conversation starter... "Director of bands? Former oboe nerd here (with an MM degree lol)" #humblebrag

Danny, as the predictably busy band director, replied at the very last minute. His opener? “Sorry for the delay, what’s your ring size again?” Not exactly subtle—but very effective.

From there, the adventures commenced. We zip lined through the trees, played mini golf and pickleball, painted ceramics, braved scary movies, ran a 5K, shared countless coffee dates, solved escape rooms, cosplayed Bridgerton characters, tried axe throwing, competed in manyyyy board games, traveled to St. Louis, San Antonio, Oregon, and Washington, and cheered at concerts (everything from the Dallas Symphony to a Taylor Swift cover band). More importantly, we built new traditions, laughed a lot, and discovered that life is way more fun when you have the right person next to you.

Then came August 2nd, 2025. While Kate was out of her apartment, Danny “kidnapped” her dog, Stella, and sent Kate on a scavenger hunt through some of their favorite date spots around Plano to "rescue" Stella. Stella even “sent” a few texts along the way to make sure Kate stayed on track. The final stop in this scavenger hunt was Oak Point Park, where Danny—overseen by Stella and a few friends—asked Kate the question he’d foreshadowed in his first Bumble reply.

She said yes.

And now, the adventure continues—forever.