~Treat everyone you meet well, you never know when you're going to marry them~

Matilda and Rob knew each other in high school. She was the new cute French girl; Rob was the local Troy Bolton wannabe. When the bride and groom to be met at a pool party they got along pretty well; talked a little, smiled a little, laughed a little. A few texts were exchanged but Matilda went on to the bigger high school in town while Rob stayed behind with his friends. Future Mr. and Mrs. Knab did not keep contact.

7 years later it would seem those first impressions would remain pretty important.

Rob had recently moved back to his parents' home from across town after his local adventures in college. Matilda had recently moved to her parents' home from across North America after her worldly adventures. Turns out those homes were not too far from one another.

Rob reached out over Instagram (DM bandit) and asked Matilda if she wanted to grab drinks. They met at Fuzzy's taco shop (Matilda was too kind to admit she did not like Fuzzy's).

3 hours never seemed so short and easy as the future wedded couple caught up on their last 7 years. Matilda first: worldly adventures, causing Rob to feel like his story was going to bore her. Rob's story next, causing Matilda to feel like it this might be a little too much "God, Glory, Guns" for her taste. But, despite differences, the persistent feeling of mutual interest and budding romance never faded.

Then begs the question: How's this gonna work?

Matilda had plans to travel the world soon and Rob intended on letting the Air Force tell him where he was going to live.

~We make plans; God laughs~

If you take yourself back to January of 2020, the month in question, you may remember the introduction of something called COVID (hard to forget). Covid ruined Matilda's plan to travel the world. Rob thanks God (and/or China) for this. The first 6 months of their relationship consisted of dinner at one another's homes (do recall they both lived with their parents), exhausting all the streaming options on Netflix, and masked trips to local states to visit family.

Rob and Matilda, as they would find out, were deeply in love. Different backgrounds, different upbringings, but same goal: spend the rest of their lives together.

This would prove difficult when Rob told Matilda (He now admits he could have told her sooner) that the Air Force was sending him to one of the coldest places on the planet, Minot, North Dakota. Their love was tested by distance, youth, and the general question that keeps us all up at night 'what on earth am I doing with my life?'. These tests were met by their ultimate antithesis': patience, understanding, and the urge to quell sudden feelings of doubt with inklings of hope that if you don't mess this up you may get to spend the rest of your life with your best friend.

And through all this time that is what has kept them together and pushing forward. Now they talk a lot, smile a lot, and laugh a lot. Even as they sit in South Korea awaiting their return to friends and family, they dream of a life together-- as partners, future bride and groom, and best friends.

They give their families and friends all the credit for getting them where they are. They cannot wait to celebrate with you all in Mexico and wherever life takes us thereafter.

Wherever we go, we go together. Katchi Kapshida

Shoutout to Kikou. We miss you Rex.

See you in Mexico!