Michael and Dana’s love story started the old-fashioned way: swiping right on the dating app Plenty of Fish 😉 They chatted via text for a few weeks getting to know each other with their first phone call lasting over 3 hours. To everyone’s surprise, it wasn’t just Dana talking the whole call haha

Michael planned their first date at Boomers, a local mini-golf establishment in Orange County. Somehow Dana had beginners’ luck and was beating Michael so badly that he stopped his putt halfway through to make sure she was aware that he was having a great time despite his competitiveness showing! After that memorable first date both Michael and Dana knew they had something special and that their swiping days would be over in the very near future.

Fast forward through dating long distance for 6 months, living together for 4 years in the mountains of Santa Cruz, to moving cross country 2400 miles to where they currently live on their hobby farm that they’ve named LoveJoy Ranch with roughly 60 animals (but who’s counting).

After almost 7 years of dating, Michael decided to ask Dana to marry her on her birthday, 8/9/2023. He proposed shortly after getting home from dinner with Dana’s family, where he had asked Dana’s father, Darryl, for permission to ask for her hand in marriage. In their home, Michael went down on one knee with a smile on his face and a happy tear in his eye, “Please say yes” and Dana said “YES! YES! YES.”

The rest is history!