When Mark and I met there were no phone apps or online media involved. This was an old school, face to face interaction that blossomed into an amazing adventure together.


A few months after meeting, he invited me to come watch the Seahawks game at the Pony Keg, where we had first met. I accepted but then work got in the way. He reached out a couple more times but again things kept coming up… sickness, funeral, work. I had to keep canceling on him. He will tell everyone that I was blowing him off but the truth is I really wanted to get to know this guy that I had so much in common with.


We were finally able to meet up in Puyallup at Crockett’s for a lunch date. As most people know, Mark is a talker and this was no exception. We shared stories with no lull in the conversation. After a few days passed, he reached out again and we connected at a fundraiser in Tacoma. I knew that I was all in at this point and excited for every text, phone call and date. It was easy to do things together. We have so much in common that whenever something came up he was the first person I wanted to come along.


A lot of milestones have happened over the last 7 years. We have gone on vacations, moved in together, survived the pandemic, I got him to go to a Foo Fighters concert (in the pit!!) and he proposed - finally. We knew that this was the road that we were heading towards and this next level of adventure will be the best yet – Marriage.