Kristin put me in charge of telling our story, so here it is from my perspective.

It began as a modern day romance through online dating with some authenticity, spontaneity and a touch of class from yours truly. We met on Hinge with Kristin liking one of my photos. I thought she was absolutely gorgeous and had to follow up with her. We hit it off immediately. Even through messaging, I was able to sense her beautiful personality and passion (my favorite word to describe her: passionate).

After a day of messaging back and forth I got her number. She almost didn’t respond to me after I sent my first text; “Hey this is Brandon, or Dr. Hart if you prefer ;)”. I didn’t get a text back until the next morning. Not going to lie I was kind of nervous she didn’t respond. She did end up responding and saying “This is Kristin, or Dr. Weber if you prefer”. Phew, she’s got a sense of humor and can dish it back.

We kept messaging for a few days and eventually had a three hour phone call. After talking I tried to set up a date for us the coming weekend, but she told me she was busy with a Tulsa orchestra concert and couldn’t go out. I then proceeded to ask her if she could get me a ticket so I could come watch her, despite never meeting in person. She tells it that she had initial skepticism and hesitancy, but a hint of optimism. She talked to her orchestra friends and they all said “no, don’t do it” but she said “I think I’m going to invite him”! She did in fact invite me.

That next Saturday night I suited up and drove from Tahlequah to Tulsa with excitement and confidence. I walked into the hall, grabbed my ticket and made my way to Orchestra right, row Q, seat 15. As I walked in, I locked eyes with Kristin and she waved at me, so I waved back; it was showtime.

I sat through the entire show and kept mental notes of what I liked about each of the different pieces (my undergrad fine arts knowledge really came in clutch). Afterwards, I went into the main lobby and waited for her to meet me there. Kristin and her friend Amanda came straight over to me and they asked me what I thought about the show; this was our first full face to face interaction. I gave my full synopsis and they were pleasantly surprised I knew what I was talking about (of course I did).

After talking, Kristin and I exited the hall together and she immediately latched onto my arm; it felt so natural. We walked a quarter of a mile in the Oklahoma January cold to a local bar called Valkyrie (still our favorite to this day). We spent the next 3 hours chatting it up before calling it a night. BEST. FIRST. DATE. EVER.