I first met Katie through her then boyfriend, as bad as that sounds. I went down to Vancouver in the Summer of 2018 to spend some time with Morgan, and he was dating Katie at the time. Coming down there, I had no idea I was going to meet Katie, but figured the best way to make friends was to make her laugh until her ribs ached. And that was it for almost 6 months - and despite only meeting her the one time, I knew I liked her.

Morgan and I go on a few double dates, and I spend more time with her. I get to know her more, and want to hear more of her laugh and see more of her smile. But I don't see her more after that, and don't hear much from her until August 2019.

And then she shows up out of nowhere, saying she could hear my laugh across campus and wanted to say hi. I stumble out a few words about like it's nice to see you, your hair looks nice, we should catch up, thoughts on some food better than the dining hall?

I make her a nice chicken pesto with pine nuts that I scrambled to find in a small town like Pullman. I drove to a different state to find them, and it was worth it. She loved the dish, and the cuddling and the movie thereafter. It was a great first date, and I made sure to invite her over quickly after that.

I'm not entirely sure when we started dating, but early September was our best guess and we've stuck with it. We spent near all free time we had with each other, I don't think either of us could get enough of the other; still can't. The pandemic hit, and we only got closer, and more than through proximity. When I graduated, we immediately moved in together and started working towards the life we wanted to live together.

I couldn't be happier now than I am with her, and feel incredibly lucky to marry someone like her. Every day brings possibility and joy that I couldn't hope to achieve alone.

She's my sunshine.

Registry