They say never to fall in love at the Jersey Shore—but Alex and I did just that. It was a Saturday night at Jenks, and let’s just say, Alex was fully committed to the tequila sodas. We were with a group of mutual friends when Shea asked if I had ever met Alex. Alex who? She introduced us, and we immediately hit it off—talking about Hawaii, work, and for some reason, trying to figure out how to spell “hippopotamus.” I left that night knowing we had found something special.

We didn’t talk again right away; in fact, it wasn’t until I was back on another trip to Hawaii that I heard from him that September. I almost canceled our first date—anyone who knows me knows dating wasn’t exactly my strong suit—but I figured we had some mutual friends, so how bad could it be? Our first date was just down the street from our venue, at B2 Bistro, and we’ve spent nearly every weekend together since.

You can usually find Alex and I on a plane to a destination I convinced us to visit, pushing each other through a tough workout at Apache, or enjoying a drink at the Patio Bar.

We could not be more excited about this next chapter of our love story and we cannot wait to share it with all of you.