We met at a sandwich shop.

(pictured above: march 20, 2015 our first sleepover-- before phones took good photos)

As we got to know one another, we slowly realized our paths had been winding around each other for our entire lives.

She (Stein) was born (right on time) April 12, 1994 in LA. I (Tambo) was born (a couple weeks late) on May 3, 1994 in Santa Rosa. I moved out of Santa Rosa in 2003. She moved in to Santa Rosa in 2004, making friends with the very people I was sad to leave behind.

In 2013, I got a job at a sandwich shop across from the junior college. Immediately, all I heard about was Kaitlin Stein, a legend who had just left for New Zealand. Lucky for us, she came back to work after I had gotten my feet under me. After 19 years, our paths were finally destined to cross, and I was determined to prove myself to this stranger.

Our first day of work together set the tone for our entire relationship. Just the two of us were in the kitchen that day. Without saying a word beyond "hi", we each competed to prove we could handle anything. By the end of that lunch rush, we had established respect for one another. We were friends immediately.

Two years went by like this. Two very private people, slowly getting to know each other, with no notions of becoming anything more than friends but definitely a lot of teasing. Just two kids, wishing we had met long before, wanting to know everything about and never growing tired of each other. We talked each other through heartbreak, work drama, and life's bigger questions until we were inseparable.

Somewhere along the line-- probably one at a time-- we fell in love. After a lot of cautious hinting, and finally a little risk taking, we became (very privately) official in 2015.

Together we've already done so much. We've opened sandwich shops, moved across state lines, travelled to six countries...It's hard to believe it started so long ago and yet there is still so much ahead of us.

Celebrating our love with you all is another huge step on our lifelong path.