Let's go back about 8 years ago when I decided, after several lengthy self pep talks, lots of praying, and chatting endlessly with two very supportive parents, that it was time to spread my wings and see what was outside of my cozy, comfort zone of Spokane. 278.7 miles outside of it to be exact-let's not get too crazy. I decided to give a new city and new job a chance, knowing in the back of my head I'd come back 'someday'. Well, 'someday' happened 4 1/2 years later and like most of the big decisions I've made in my life, someday started in my heart, was thought through thoroughly, and then had to happen LIKE RIGHT NOW once I had made up my mind. I remember sitting down and telling my parents I had decided it was time to move home and be close to family again. At the time, I didn't even know if my company would let me keep my job and work remote, I just knew I was being pulled back to Spokane and for some reason it had to be then. After trying to contain their excitement they asked if I was sure, and then jokingly asked 'Are there eligible guys to date in Spokane?'. I remember being surprised by my own answer and how confident I felt about it, that if God wanted me to meet the 'one', I knew it was going to be in Spokane (against all reason and logic) and it would happen on His time.

I quickly set plans in motion to move back home and started the search for a couple new roommates to move into my house. I found out that a buddy of mine was able to move in and he 'knew a cool guy' to potentially be our third roommate . We scheduled a time to all meet, because ya know, I had to vet this 'cool guy' and make sure I would want to live with him for at least a year. I remember seeing Trev walk in the door, as we were seated in the closest table to the entrance, and thinking to myself, 'Please sit down next to me and tell me you're the guy we're meeting'. **Side note: Several months later, we would admit to each other we both had the, in a good way, 'Oh boy...Uh oh' moment in our heads as soon as we were introduced on that initial blind roommate meet**. I remember finding it incredibly easy to banter and joke with Trev, conversation flowed endlessly, and within an hour knew there was something special about him and why we clicked so well. I also remember being surprised that for the first time, in a long time, those were butterflies I was feeling when I looked at him. And I also remember being in disbelief that he was single, that good looking, had an amazing sense of humor, and was incredibly charismatic. I went back home to my parent's house that night as I was visiting from Seattle for the weekend, and wasn't able to hide the fact when my parents asked, "How'd it go?" that my future roommate was one of the raddest, and most handsome , individuals I had ever met who apparently liked to do everything I did. It almost seemed too good to be true.

That next day I received a Facebook message from Trev asking for my number to coordinate roommate items and wishing me a happy early birthday. A large part of me hoped that he was asking for my number because I had left a more than just a cool friend impression on him, but the more logical side of me knew that from our meet-up dinner that he was a genuinely nice guy and just chalked it up to good manners and some good Facebook stalking as I never told him my birthday. :) From that day on, we developed an incredible friendship and started doing almost everything together to the point of being inseparable and being referred to as SBTB -even before we were dating. I found myself wanting to spend every opportunity I could with him and even thinking of reasons why I somehow ended up eating breakfast with him every day and how our bedtimes just happened to coincide. It wasn't until after a hike with a few friends when we were both asked, "What traits does your ideal boyfriend/girlfriend have" did it truly sink in for me that I couldn't ignore the fact we had both been searching for each other, and our descriptions of what we were looking for described each other to a 'T'. Later that night I decided I needed to know and couldn't wait any longer and bridged the question, "So. How do you feel about me?." Obviously you know what the answer was and the rest is history. :)

May 16, 2015. I was all set to meet up with my future roommates for the "Let's get together and confirm that we're all at least semi-normal" Dinner. My friend Kevin knew a girl who was looking for some guy roommates to move into her house.

You see, I had been living in an older section of Spokane's Browne's Addition for the past couple of months, saving money by living close to work and occupying a tiny, boring apartment that was decades removed from earning the "Penthouse" nickname that I had ironically bestowed upon it. This was an odd period for me. I wasn't particularly having a lot of fun living in that apartment or area, I was living alone for the first time ever in my life, and most of my close friends lived far away. Instead of feeling liberated and in-control, I felt lost more than anything, and that lowly apartment became a symbol for that feeling. I stayed in that apartment for 9 months, and with each one that went by I would ask myself: "Why am I still here?" I didn't realize it at the time, but I was waiting for something.

I can still see her sitting there in that booth. Blonde hair, green & white striped dress, jean jacket, beer in hand, the brightest white smile, and most importantly, an open seat next to her. She was the first and only thing I saw when I walked into that restaurant. After wiping the drool off of my face, my eyes moved over to the other side of the table she was sharing. I had never been so happy to see my friend Kevin.

Once Kevin introduced us and I took that open seat, it didn't take long for Sarah to leave an impression on me. I had never met a girl with as much electric positivity and life as Sarah had that night. I found Sarah's energy, wit, and laughter to be totally infectious, and those sentiments definitely lingered. In the span of about an hour I went from zero to hooked.

I went home that night, back to that lowly apartment, feeling more invigorated and optimistic than I ever had entering it. I felt like I had found a light worth chasing. I couldn't wait to get this move going, and I really couldn't wait to spend time with Sarah again.

I was feeling so ballsy that the next day I sent Sarah a message, saying how great it was meeting her and I wished her a happy early birthday as it was the next day. I also not-so-subtly slipped in a request for her phone number, because, you know, we might need to coordinate roommate things ;) (that was my cover, at least, in case she wasn't as into me as I was to her)

From there we became fast friends. Doing everything together from big mountain hikes to small taco dinners (I'm now convinced that Sarah spent a couple months pretending to like my cooking, while I most definitely spent a couple months' salary at REI trying to impress/keep up with her). Our friendship grew like wildfire. If there was something to celebrate, we were planning a party. If there was a competition to be had, we were taking each other on. We both just loved spending time together. We were building the foundation of our relationship, even if most of our friends had it figured out before we did.

One particular night, after a day-hike in which Sarah and I described each other as our ideal match without initially realizing it, all the feelings of the past couple months came to a head. Sarah, coming straight through the front door as only she could do, asked me point blank how I felt about her. With a heavy mix of surprise, nervousness, excitement, and relief swirling around in my gut, I finally came clean: I had been way into her since May 16^th, 2015.