From Katie's perspective: After matching on Tinder and making limited small talk on the app, we had our first date at the St. Louis Art Museum. We spent the night walking around looking at paintings. After a long week, I had almost cancelled. I'm glad I did not.

We had our first kiss in front of Monet's "Water Lillies," an exact replica of which currently hangs in our apartment. It turns out there are many variations and Dave found the exact one and had it framed for my 32nd birthday.

I kept a list of our first dates. After Date 16, he became my boyfriend. On Date 27, he met my family at Grace Meat + Three, and ordered a turkey leg that we still talk about. On Date 32, we went to Mosie's wedding and Date 55 was a road trip to North Carolina through the Smoky Mountains. After Date 57, he said I love you for the first time. I stopped counting the dates after that.

Dave took a job in Los Angeles in October 2018, and I had never even visited LA before. I told him if I loved it, I would consider doing long distance. If I hated it, it had been a good run. LA is easy to love, and so is David. So in July 2019, I moved here.

Over the past 6 years, we have survived the COVID-19 pandemic, job changes and career shifts, one apartment fire that had us displaced for 6 months, and citywide forest fires. We also have tried new restaurants (both in person and on Postmates), driven across the country three times, attended Coachella...twice, cuddled with Dot at least once every day, and watched more movies than I can count. We have shared a lot of joy, and a lot of love. And we are excited to have you join us in celebrating that love in June 2025.