If you would've told me 4 years ago that I (Monet) would meet the love of my life (Ethan) on OkCupid, I would've said...OkCupid still exists?


It does — and because of it, we are getting married.


We started talking on December 1, 2021. I was in Florida visiting my family for the holidays and stumbled upon Ethan's profile while trying to figure out how the hell OkCupid even worked. Not only was he cute, but he had a picture of himself with a cat — and we all know how much I love cats. Plus, the cat's name was Flynn, which happens to be my favorite Disney prince from my favorite Disney film (I should've known it was meant to be right then and there). I sent him a message on Thanksgiving and it took him one week to get back to me. Way to keep a girl in suspense, Ethan! I still tease him about it to this day.


But the moment we started talking, we couldn't stop. We were so eager to get to know each other that we texted well into the night/early morning, and I knew then that he was worth losing sleep over.


Over the next month, we would text, call, and FaceTime each other every chance we could. We talked about everything and anything, confiding in each other as if we'd known each other our whole lives. He became my person and I became his. I couldn't wait to get back to California and meet him in person.


Our first date was January 11, 2022, and Ethan asked me to be his girlfriend on January 19. We commemorated the start of our relationship with a trip to the Getty Villa and dinner at Moonshadows in Malibu, which remains one of my favorite memories, and began building a life together.


On April 3, 2024, Ethan got down on one knee in Disney California Adventure and asked me to marry him. We both kind of blacked out (he forgot his entire speech, I barely remember what I said other than 'yes'), but it was even more perfect than I could've imagined. Being able to celebrate our engagement with my family in my favorite theme park was a dream come true, and I still tear up thinking about it.


The last 3 years have been the best of our lives. We've adopted cats together, made apartments feel like home together, traveled together, laughed together, cried together, and adventured together. We've celebrated the highs and consoled each other through the lows, and there is no one else I want to do this thing called life with.


This next chapter promises to be our best yet, and we can't thank you enough for being part of our story and loving us the way you do.