I first saw Kyle in the Fall of 2016. I had just moved to Washington State and was doing public health outreach at the Wenatchee Run Club. I volunteered for four Thursdays in October, hoping I’d get the courage to talk to him but was too shy. I ended up nick-naming Kyle, “ginger dude,” since I didn’t know his name. (At the time, his beard looked red.)

We officially ‘met’ in the Fall of 2017 after matching on Bumble, an online dating app. I was over the moon! Kyle would send me paragraphs of text and I would spend the whole day drafting a perfect response. Our first date was at Tastebuds, a local wine bistro in Wenatchee. We shared a bottle of wine and then walked along the Apple Loop Trail. Kyle walked me to my car, kissed me, and the rest is history! Don’t worry, a couple weeks after we started dating I did confess my ‘stalker’ story to him.

Over the past six years we’ve enjoyed traveling throughout Washington state, hanging out with friends, and spending time with family. We survived COVID, moved back down to California, and completed our Master’s degrees. Kyle is the most supportive, loyal, and loving person I know and I’m so lucky to have ‘matched’ with him.

Kyle proposed on the Winter Solstice during my winter break. I was reading on the couch and he came over and popped the question. What I loved about the proposal is that Kyle completely surprised me. I thought I was going to see the proposal coming from a mile away, since he talked about making all these ‘special’ plans. In the end it was simple, intimate, and perfect.

I met Paige through the dating app Bumble. I was looking for someone, like what many others seek out: common interests, well-educated, driven, funny, and many more. When we matched around Labor Day 2017, I had a suspicion that she would check off all the boxes. Of course, she did, and more!

That same weekend I had plans to go backpacking with friends and would not be within cell service to talk to the woman I just met. I was extremely nervous she would lose faith in me due to weekend silence, and without any formal plans for a first date, so I told her ahead of time that I wanted to meet up the following week. I was so excited to get back home to be able to see what she had to say. Luckily she found me considerate and thoughtful that she continued talking!

Later that month was our first trip together to Seattle. Paige's car needed servicing (the nearest place to Wenatchee was the Seattle Volvo) and I convinced her to let me come with. The weekend was full of adventure together, including walks around Gas Works Park, Pike Street Market, meeting family friends in West Seattle, and of course a Mariners game!

Since that initial trip six years ago, we have met each other's families, including: parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and many more people in each other's lives. We continued to make our yearly trip to Seattle for the car services, trips to the mountains, concerts, trail races, and visiting friends/families over holidays. We made it through the pandemic and graduate school together, relying on each other when times got tough.

I was the first one to get a job in the San Diego area in November 2021. Paige moved to California as well to finish her Masters degree at home in Thousand Oaks. While we were still two hours from each other, it provided comfort that we could see each other on a semi-regular basis.

In December 2022, I was living in Encinitas and Paige was in town before our trip to Washington State for Christmas. Paige knew I would eventually propose, and I was trying to avoid a cliché holiday proposal. However, I just felt the timing was right, and as we're sitting on the couch, I asked her to marry me. Her first reaction was of shock; I think she wasn't expecting the timing, but she said yes!