I met Kati at Camp Elim while I was taking my GAP year working there. To set the story up I first have to say that at the beginning of the year, I had decided that during my year at camp, I would not date anyone and instead spend the year focused on my classes and work at the camp.

With that said, it was during the winter camp retreats that I met Kati for the first time. I remember her being super friendly and kind and one of our first interactions was talking about the Percy Jackson book series with a camper, (at this point I did not know about her book obsession haha). Throughout the weekend winter camps, we got to know each other a little more and Kati ended up friending me on Snapchat. After the camp retreats ended we snapped and talked for a bit but I could sense that she was starting to catch some feelings. My way of avoiding that was by ghosting her(sorry babe!).

It wasn't until the summer camps started that we saw each other again. During the summer camps you worked closely with people every day, all day, and throughout that time Kati and I became good friends and we got to know each other pretty well as Kati had signed up to work every week during the summer. Near the end of the summer Kati and I found each other spending more and more time together joking around, having fun, and helping each other out during stressful times at camp. But still, at this point, I was still determined to stick to my promise to myself to not date anyone while in Colorado.

After the second to last week at camp I ended up driving Kati home for the weekend and during that drive, we made plans to go hang out at a park that she wanted to show me. The park had a beautiful view of the mountains where Kati and I sat on a rock and talked. This is when I started to realize that I really liked Kati. We finished the night by dancing next to the car to some music and after, once Kati had driven me back to where I was staying that night I ended up kissing her. With hindsight this was crazy, but I was getting A LOT of hints that Kati wanted it so I initiated and it was well received.

The day after we drove up to the last week of summer camps and it was more of a quiet drive. Both of us were still stunned I think of what had happened the night before. We talked a little about it and still had a good drive but I think both of us just did not know what was going to happen next. I wanted to date her but I knew I was moving back up to MN in like two weeks. During the last week, Kati and I were working very different jobs and we did not see each other much so we texted when we could trying to figure out what to do. A few days before the end of the camp I made Kati a bracelet with an inside joke on it and told her I wanted to give it a shot to which she very happily said yes to. The day after camp ended we went on our first date and the rest, as they say, is history!

Thank you so much for getting us a gift! We love you and we will cherish it! You’re the best ;)