It was the first day at my new job working at a greenhouse right down the road. After getting settled in, the boss gave me a tour to familiarize me with the place and introduce me to the other workers. My oldest sister had told me that she knew this guy named Patrick Potter from contra dancing who worked at the greenhouse but she wasn't sure if he still worked there or not. As I was entering one of the greenhouses, the boss pointed to this guy with shoulder-length wavy brown hair pushing a cart of flowers up the hill and said that's Patrick and you'll be working with him a lot. My first thought (which was not verbalized at the time) was "dang, she didn't tell me he was cute!" Fast forward a few months and after hours spent working together things had gone from playful bantering to subtle flirting. One day, as I was going home for lunch, my car hydroplaned on some water due to a fire hydrant being flushed just up the hill. This resulted in my vehicle being kaput, thus leaving me with no means of getting to work. Patrick, ever the gentleman, heard about my predicament and offered to give me rides to and from work since he drove right past my house every day. Of course I accepted his offer of transportation not thinking of anything beyond that. Unbeknownst to me, Patrick had a crush on me by that point and was eager for the chance to spend more time just the two of us. This led to me occasionally at first and then as time progressed more frequently tagging along to his folks house where he went for lunch most days. The dynamic was somewhat awkward at first as I was hanging out with virtually complete strangers, but gradually became much more comfortable and even normal. It was during this time of riding together that our relationship really started to make itself obvious. We both enjoyed each other's company and had an easy familiarity in how we interacted. Shortly after this we went to Groucho's Deli for lunch and on the way back to the greenhouse, Patrick nervously asked if he could take me out on a date. I misunderstood him and asked for some time to think about it (as I thought he was asking me to be his girlfriend). He took that answer of asking for some time as a polite rejection. Much to his surprise, a few days later I suggested that we could hang out more intentionally for the next month with the consideration of a relationship in mind. He still didn't think there was much hope that things would work out, but at least there was a slight chance. During that month we had what I consider to be our first unofficial "official" date. Patrick took me out to Chipotle for dinner and I wasn't sure whether he was covering the bill for both of us or if we were paying separately. We paid separately and I took that as a bad sign that he didn't cover my bill as well. Following dinner, we went bowling and had a really fun time together. Patrick made me do all sorts of abnormal bowling techniques which I thought were really dumb at the time but if you know Patrick at all that's just how he rolls. Throughout that month, we deliberately spent more time together and contemplated what the future could hold for us. At the end of the month, as Patrick dropped me off at home after work one day he brought up the fact that it had been a month and wanted to know if he could take me on a date. I had written him a letter agreeing to be his girlfriend so I gave that to him with instructions to read it when he got home but meanwhile told him that I would go on a date with him. On October 9th, 2021, Patrick took me out to a nice Italian restaurant and even though he knew from my letter that I had agreed to be his girlfriend, I made him ask me in person. I (of course) said yes to being his girlfriend! What followed was a lot of evenings where Patrick came over for dinner with me and my folks. In the Spring of 2022, I quit working at the greenhouse in order to focus on finishing my degree at the community college. While we were no longer working together every day, we still texted endlessly and spent the weekends together as much as possible. Fast forward a couple years past lots of dates, adventures, and hanging out together to Christmas Eve 2023. Patrick had been acting off for a couple days and trying to act casual about it. I {very nicely} let him believe that I was clueless in order for him to surprise me. We went to church that morning as normal and then went out for lunch to a local Mediterranean restaurant we both like. After lunch, we headed to the horseshoe on the USC campus to walk around. Secretly, Patrick had gotten his sister, sister-in-law, and two nieces to set up a spot for him to propose. We walked around until we got to the spot they had decorated. Once there, we went down the path they had decorated until we reached the end and Patrick got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. My answer was "Yes, absolutely!"