The story starts with me finding my dream woman as the last thing on my mind, really. I had talked our friend Zack into meeting me in LA for a rowdy weekend of music and partying. We had two amazing shows lined up and we really cranked it up to 11. By the time Sunday morning shined a spotlight in to our blood shot eyes, we needed a chill place to ride out the day, so we headed to Huntington to spend the afternoon on the beach with some old friends from college. Little did I know, my life was about to change forever.

When we arrived, I was toeing the line between strugglebus and completely useless when I saw an angel. Well, heard her first, really. She sat on the ground, burrito in hands, and recounted her less than lovely experience from the night before. She described herself as the sweat pants wearing, drunk, butch, den mother at a sorority slut show. When the story was done, so was the burrito, and I thought to myself, there is something special about this one.

We walked out on to the sand, and, believing that my barely coherent wit on the way over had built enough report to earn a spot next to Cassie, I settled in to find out more about this girl. We talked about everything from school to relationships to travel. She was in a transition phase, as was I, and we identified with each other in many ways. But to this day, what sticks with me most, is that for the first time in my life I completely forgot about everything and everyone around me. The only thing I could focus on was her.

As fate would have it, I would not see Cassie again for an entire year. She wanted to travel and she made the necessary sacrifices to get what she wanted - I admired that in her. I did stalk her on Facebook while she was gone, but strategically, to keep me gently on her mind, without exposing my full-blown internet stalking. When she returned from her adventure, I took advantage of an opportunity to 'trick' her into meeting me for breakfast… and then a garden tour… and then a walk on the beach... It felt just like that first time, like nothing and no one else even existed. She was the most beautiful and wonderful person I'd ever met. And since that moment, I have never wanted anyone else by my side.

And that's how I met Cassie.

This does not begin as a romantic tale, I did not wake up that bloated, July morning thinking it would be the day I met my husband. Allow me to set the scene... It was summer, 2010, I had recently moved home from Seattle and had 2 goals; lose weight and go to Argentina. I'd been sneaking around town, but decided to make a (terribly underdressed) appearance at a friend's music show - which turned out to be a trainwreck of a 21 year old's cocktail birthday party. I was clearly the only 'adult' in the room and chose to deal with my insecurities like one - by hitting the bar, hard. Come daylight, I received a wake up call from an old college buddy, Zack Galla, who was down visiting and getting some local friends together for a beach day. He offered a burrito, which was exactly the motivation needed to get me out of bed and on my way. I don't even remember seeing Matt when I arrived, I only had eyes for that burrito, and as I engulfed it, I proceeded to tell tell the tale of my evening, with food in my mouth, stinking of booze, no makeup and PLENTY of colorful language. Not my finest hour.

Matt laid his towel next to mine, completely ignoring Zack, and for the next few hours, it was as if there was no one else on that beach but Matt, me and my burrito baby. He conveniently neglected to mention the girl he was dating, and even though I was upfront about my boyfriend of a year, he somehow found an excuse to finagle my phone number - which he called on a regular basis for the next few months, despite my never saving it and his constant reminding me of who he was until I left for Argentina.

I came home in the summer of 2011 and was out to dinner in San Clemente with my friend Matt Erlin, who was stationed at Pendleton at the time. Matt Blench saw the mobile check-in at the restaurant, and, completely ignoring the fact that I could have been on a date, waited until later that night when I was a few drinks deep to convince me to have breakfast with him, since I was 'practically already in San Diego.' I was irritated by my commitment the next morning, and remember telling my Grandma Marian, "This guy who wants to catch up, I don't know what we have to catch up about, I don't even know him." It barely occurred to me that this was a date. He plotted contingency plans to keep the day going. By breakfast at Swami's I was enjoying myself, by the Meditation Gardens I was intrigued, and after a long walk on the beach I was totally hooked - and confused by how long it had taken to see what had been right in front of me for the past year.

And that's how I met Matt.