We met at BSO (Bobcat Student Orientation) in June of 2019. It was a Saturday session in the middle of the month. Paige was there with admissions since it was a transfer day. Tori was walking into Ellis Hall with a cart full of laptops for registration. Paige was by the door that Tori needed to unlock and we both asked each other if Paige's boss Jess was around. Both of us had an internal reaction of "Wow, okay she's attractive. Play it cool". (Not sure if we really played it cool...) After getting into the room we needed, Tori let Paige know there were donuts down the hall. Paige was excited about this and ran down the hallway. (Tori says, "I think my heart went with her.")

Things escalated from there. We chatted most of the day with Paige and her boss goofing off a bit. Until, the conversation turned to pets. Paige talked a bit about Cooper but her bosses boyfriend had a pet snake and Paige commented about how she could never live in a house with a reptile. That killed it right there. Tori could not think of a future with someone if she could not respect her noodle Rosie. Tori commented that she had a pet snake and walked out of the room. We did not talk much the rest of the day. Paige always recalls saying to herself, "Nope, it doesn't matter how cute she is; I'm terrified of snakes."

At the end of the day we said goodbyes and went on our ways. It was not until a few days (maybe a week) later that we both were swiping on tinder and saw each other. We both swiped right and decided to give the other a second chance. Paige immediately shared her phone number and hopped off the app. It was left in Tori's court to reach out and we began to text non-stop.

We went on our first date at the end of June. Orientation was still going on, but we decided to go out on a Friday night to Cider house. (There was some uncertainty about if this was in fact a date or not.) (What can I say, we are lesbians, we are bad at the flirting stage.)

We met outside the building Paige was in a jumper and her makeup looked amazing. Tori realized immediately, this was definitely a date. (Tori had enough sense to put on some nice khakis and her new shoes.)

We went inside ordered drinks and started to talk. Tori didn’t want anything too serious since she wanted to get out of Athens after Grad School. Paige trauma dumped and told Tori almost all of her shit. We shared our first kiss and did tequila shots with Paige's bosses boss too.

Then Paige invited Tori back to her house to ‘meet her dog’, Tori assumed it was probably more than just meeting her dog. It was not, Paige is obsessed with Cooper, but how was a girl to know all that after just a first date.

Once we got there Cooper came up and gave Tori a kiss. Tori was the second person behind Paige of course, that he ever did that too. So Tori got to meet the best boy and Paige realized she might just be stuck with this one. (What Cooper wants, Cooper got). During that time, her roommate's dog, Martha, ate part of Tori's new shoe. So Tori left our first date without footwear.

Tori then reached out to set up our second date right after for us to go to the baseball game that Sunday. (Tori had to see her again to get her shoes replaced. lol)

We spent the next few weeks going on dates and spent all of Brew Week together. Until last call when we finally asked each other to be girlfriends. The rest is history.

Well, that’s not all there is to the story. 

Paige and Tori met in 2019, that means Covid was right around the corner to move things along. They moved in together in May 2020 and quickly rented a townhouse in Lancaster to accommodate all the pets. 

In 2021 they both were back at the OU main campus for work and in December 2021 they bought a house together. 
A long list of house projects and family adventures kept them going. 
As the world opened back up they got into the swing of seeing Broadway shows and kindling a love of travel. 
Once Paige got her passport that sealed the deal and they put it to use by visiting Morocco and then a Caribbean cruise. They are sticking around Ohio for a bit, but after the wedding might get into some more trips. 

There is no one else they would rather spend forever with. ❤️