Buckle up - I love a good detailed story time...

Way back in the old days of 2014, I had just moved up to Flagstaff to start my undergrad at NAU. Like any 18-year-old girl who is off on her own to have some fun, I downloaded Tinder and had a blast looking at 'people watching' through photos. Eventually, I stumbled across Rob's profile. Obsessed with his dark, curly hair, his accentuated cupid's bow, and his goofy photos, I swiped right. It was an immediate match.

After some chatting on Tinder, we swapped over to Snapchat because I had to make sure he wasn't a catfish! It was there we decided that me being in Flagstaff and him in Phoenix just wasn't the right move for either of us. We drifted off into our own lives, but I still caught the occasional flirty Snapchat message from him.

Fast forward to 2018, when I had just graduated NAU, celebrated in Los Angeles with family, and was nearly killed by a distracted driver. My plans of student teaching for a semester in Flagstaff were shattered, along with my hip bone. Little did I know, this was my blessing in disguise.

I spent some time in Florida with my family to physically heal from my injuries, where my boredom got me back into communication with Rob. After some time, I moved back, as NAU allowed me to do my student teaching in Downtown Phoenix instead. It was here where I lived with my other mom and wedding officiant, Jill.

Having just barely bounced back from a near-death experience, I had a "What's the worst that could happen" mindset. I reached out to Rob, letting him know I moved to Phoenix and would love to meet him. We decided to meet at CASA on Mill Avenue. (Yes... the college bar that serves drinks in buckets...) I went out with friends and met up with Rob and Anthony, sharing drinks, stories, and laughs. By the end of the night, I had an indescribable feeling that this man was going to be so important to me. I called the Uber and my go-getter self made the first move to kiss him goodbye. Want to know the first thing I said to myself in the Uber? "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I think I like him a lot."

The next day, we hung out again. Truthfully? We never stopped hanging out since. I adore his love for me and our two kitty sons, and we are about to live happily ever after.

In 2014 I was a one-time college dropout working to make my way to ASU for my second try at college. I was staying at my friend Anthony's apartment when I matched with Sammi on tinder.

We talked for a bit but ultimately decided that pursuing anything else wasn't feasible. She was going to school in Flagstaff, and I was working to get my life together in Tempe and Phoenix.

Four years later, we were both college graduates and Sammi let me know she was staying in Phoenix. Naturally, we met in person for the first time at CASA on Mill Ave and hit it off immediately. She was and still is the most beautiful person in the world and I felt insane that she was interested in me.

And yes, she did make the first move. If I'm being generous to myself I'd say I was trying to be respectful, but I probably was just being a coward.

We hung out almost every day after and started dating. We decided we'd try long distance as well since I got a job offer in Southern California. Looking back, it's kind of crazy that we started the relationship long distance.

That didn't stop us though, and we saw each other almost every weekend. We'd trade off weekends traveling. One weekend I'd drive to Phoenix, the next she'd make the trip to Temecula. Not seeing her every day sucked, but it made the drives better knowing we'd get to be around each other for the next 48 hours.

Eventually, we decided that her coming to California was the best move for both of us. Finding a job in journalism isn't necessarily the easiest, but everywhere needs teachers. Our time in California was short, but the weather, Angels games, and frequent Disneyland trips kind of made up for the fact that we had almost no friends there.

Enter—COVID-19. Sammi got a job offer to work back here in Phoenix shortly after the pandemic started and we agreed to come back to the place we met.

Oh, and I almost forgot, we adopted our first cat, Barry, a few months before leaving California. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Barry then you're missing out on probably the greatest cat of all time.

We've been in Arizona ever since. Going to Suns games, exploring our city, and taking care of Barry and our second cat, Remi.

I love Sammi. She's been one of the most supportive people in my entire life. I can't imagine life without her, and I am so excited to spend the rest of our lives together.