Myself and a few of my coworkers were laughing and being rambunctious as we walked our way from the atrium into the crossing. This behavior quickly came to a halt for myself as I saw a young, beautiful woman being led by our HR rep into the admin office. None of my coworkers had noticed her, but her presence was unavoidable to me. I had no idea that this woman was about to be signing on to be the new administrator of my department.
When her first day came, I suggested to my boss that we get breakfast to surprise and welcome her. I got her a sausage, egg, & cheese mcgriddle and put it on her desk right next to mine and left the office. I didnt greet her as she came in since it was a busy day and had to take care of the normal routine schedule. When I finally had time to come meet her, I walked in, reached out my hand, and said Peter. Did you like your sandwich?
To which she replied I have allergies, I couldnt eat it. Thank you though!
My response was Oh, youre one of those and promptly left the office. Let the record show, I was just joking!
As the days, weeks, and months went by, our professional relationship grew more and more. The point where our relationship turned from coworkers to friends was during our parking lot talk where I learned a lot about who she is, what shes about, where shes from, and more of her overall life story.
As our time working together went on, our coworkers started to get some thoughts. Thoughts such as so Peter... have you ever thought about dating Danielle?
I was very, very quick to dismiss any sort of Peter & Danielle dating ideas, suggestions, or rumors. Even though I was persistent in preventing this kind of dialogue, it was futile. More and more the boys (my coworkers) would take little jabs and subtle suggestions to motivate me to do what they foresaw as good, and right. This mindset grew throughout most of the staff, albeit not to Danielles knowledge. But I knew of many people who were hoping for the news of us finally dating.
It wasnt until the new security guard, Andre, had learned that were not actually married that he decided to make this change happen.
Less than a month after Andre began to intervene by having me try on his cologne and telling Danielle Dont be shy, give it a whiff. I could see the curious, nervous, and excited smile and body language that she was giving off that she was having thoughts about the idea of us as a couple.
About a week later, a text message came in from Danielle talking about a party shes going to tomorrow and asking if I had any plans tomorrow evening.
I said Well I do now.
This party would not be our first date. I had the idea to suggest that we leave the party early to go do something with just the two of us. I recommended we go do an escape room, and she happily said yes.
We met at Cottonwood so we could drive together. I opened the door for her and it was at that moment where she pondered Oh... is this a date?
Though the party (which turned into a trip to a bar instead) wasnt a date, the escape room absolutely was.
She texted me two days later asking for clarification if that night was just a casual hangout or something more. I told her I treated the escape room as a date and asked her to go to another one with me.
She was happy to say yes again.


Theres so many more details that can describe how our relationship was before and after we started dating. Whether it be all the times the guys suggested I tell her that her hat looks nice or the long history of us throwing LifeSaver mints at each other in the office and all over the church campus, or all the other times of just deep and emotional conversations weve had.
Ive come to learn about what I want in a relationship and after seeing her character, her actions, her reactions, her personality, her care, her appreciation, her effort, her wisdom, her politics, her habits, her commitment, her faith, and her loving nature, that now I know what perfect is.

I remember walking into my new office on my first day of my new job and seeing a breakfast sandwich waiting patiently on my desk, like a quiet little welcome gift. I picked it up, gave it a curious sniff, and gently bowed my head in disappointment. It was a sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle—something I couldn’t enjoy due to my allergies.

Just then, Peter walked back into the office, casually announced, “Peter,” and I realized, oh—this was your way of introducing yourself, sans handshake. A quiet gesture. A small kindness.

You noticed I hadn’t touched the sandwich and asked how it was. I explained my allergies, trying to sound apologetic. That’s when Peter, with all the charm only he could muster, said, “Oh, you’re one of those…” and swiftly exited the scene. My jaw dropped. I looked at John, unsure of how to respond. He just laughed and said, “It’s fine. He’s fine.” And he was right—Peter was definitely one of those… in the best, most sarcastic, brilliant way.

From then on, we found ourselves sitting just six feet apart, five days a week, in that little office world of ours. Slowly, quietly, and then all at once, we grew closer. We became friends. Real ones. The kind who speak fluent sarcasm, who invent British accents just to make each other laugh.

Peter became my rock, my confidant, my closest ally. We built a rhythm, a partnership, a beautiful friendship rooted in mutual respect and trust. We witnessed each other navigate the highs and lows of life. We dated other people. We talked about love, heartbreak, and the kind of life we each hoped to build.

And then—something shifted.

One day, a new security guard casually asked if we were married. He said it so matter-of-factly, assuming it because of how easily we moved through the day together, how naturally we clicked. It was a simple question, but it unlocked a whole new way of thinking—for both of us.

From that moment, it became clear. What had felt like fate disguised as friendship was really love all along.

Long before we ever considered dating, our friend Maria watched us and said, “You two are going to end up together. I don’t know when, but you will.”
When we did finally start dating, my mom looked at me and said, “If only you had stopped swiping left or right… and just turned to your left. He was there all along.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Another friend, Sintia, smiled knowingly and said, “Oh, this one’s different. I can tell.”
And dear Courtney—she dropped to her knees in joy when we told her. She had been hoping and praying for this for years.

But most of our friends simply said, “Finally. We’ve been rooting for this all along.”

I’m so deeply grateful for the path God carved out for us—one that wasn’t rushed or forced, but patiently and perfectly timed. Through it all, we built something strong, rooted, and real. Something that could only grow out of true friendship.

And now, I get to call him my husband.
My heart is full. My future is bright. And I can’t wait to keep doing life—our life—together.

The rest… is our beautiful history in the making.