It all began in December 2014, right after we graduated from basic military training. We were both assigned to Missile and Space Systems Maintenance and arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc, California. I immediately noticed Matt before class even began—he was incredibly funny and easy on the eyes. During cleaning details, I took every opportunity to partner up with Matt so I could get to know him better. Matt would run next to me during physical training, encouraging me to run faster and improve my time. We soon found out that we would be in the same class, and after exchanging numbers, I felt confident enough to be a little flirtier towards Matt.

The Air Force allowed us to go on exodus (a two-week break for the holidays), during which Matt began texting me flirty messages back. Once we returned from exodus, class began, and Matt asked me if I wanted to ride the bus to lunch together. I tried a chicken pesto sandwich for the first time at Matt’s recommendation. Later that evening, Matt finally asked, “So, you wanna do this thing?” I replied, “Do what?” To which Matt said, “Date.” I said, “Yes, I’d love to be your girlfriend.” And so began our relationship, where we spent our time together playing video games, watching movies, and going off base on weekends to explore.

On one of our off-base excursions, we heard "Say My Name" by ODESZA; I mentioned how much I loved the sound, and Matt was surprised that I had never heard of them before. He began sharing more of his music with me, and that became one of our favorite hobbies—sharing and listening to music. About halfway through technical school, Matt was withdrawn from class and notified that he would be retrained to another specialty code. I was devastated, as our relationship had only begun two months prior, but Matt remained committed and wanted to continue, even though he’d be moving to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for Civil Engineering training.

Fast forward a few months, and we both received our first base assignments—I got stationed at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, and Matt at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. This was great news for us because the drive was only 4.5 hours, so we began visiting each other every other weekend. We enjoyed our time together eating at hibachi (our favorite at both bases) and having parties with our new friends. During this time, Matt also encouraged me to seek therapy for the first time. I don’t know if I would have ever gotten the help I needed without his understanding. Taking these steps provided us with amazing resources for challenges to come a few months later.

One challenge occurred during Thanksgiving of 2016. We were visiting Matt’s family in California when he got a phone call from his sergeant. Matt panicked, thinking his boss was calling him into the shop because he hadn’t taken leave over the weekend, but the call ended up being a pleasant surprise—Matt was notified that he received orders to Spangdahlem AB, Germany. Matt was extremely excited, but while I was happy for him, I was crushed. He reassured me that we would give long-distance a try and that we still had plenty of time to spend together before he left in June 2017.

Once we returned from leave, I spoke to my mentor about the news. She suggested I apply for retraining and a program where Matt could be listed as my support system due to attending mental health appointments. I got excited at the opportunity to possibly get a new job and applied immediately, listing many different career options as long as they had Germany as a possible base assignment.

In February 2017, I was approved for retraining; however, it was another maintenance job, but it at least had the option for a Germany assignment, so I accepted it. Matt and I continued the long weekend drives to visit each other until March 2017, when I was temporarily stationed at Sheppard AFB, Texas, for my retraining as an Aerospace Ground Equipment technician. Matt would call me every day, and we would play online games together or watch movies over FaceTime. Before Matt shipped off to Germany, we both flew to Denver, Colorado, for Memorial Day weekend, where we saw ODESZA for the first time as a last hurrah. It was one of the most incredible weekends of my life and a great way to send Matt off to Germany.

Matt arrived in Germany in June 2017, and I returned to Wyoming in July 2017 to await the response to my support application and my new base assignment. In August 2017, I was initially denied my support application to join Matt in Germany and was instead assigned to Luke AFB, Arizona. Thankfully, my commander at the time was an absolute gem and wrote an appeal letter to try one last time—the letter worked, and I was approved! I arrived in Germany just before Halloween, and Matt had already set up a home for us in Dreis, Germany, where we moved in November 2017.

Living overseas, Matt and I’s love grew even stronger over the many destinations we traveled together. Our shared love of music bonded us at every show we attended, and nothing makes me happier than dancing the night away with Matt to our favorite artists. We lived together in Germany for three years but separated from the military and returned to California in April 2020.

As of fall 2020, we have been attending college—Matt at UC Davis for Computer Science and I at San Francisco State for Cell and Molecular Biology. We also added a new member to our family in October 2022, a black lab puppy named Dreis (Dr-ice), named after the village we lived in while in Germany. Her name pays homage to our time there. In March 2023, Matt finally took the leap and asked me to marry him along the beautiful cliffside in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to which I, of course, said yes! We both graduated college this past spring of 2024, and we cannot wait to celebrate our marriage and share our love with family and friends this September!