The response was just as simple… Hi!

From there, the conversation exploded leading to our first date. The date started on a Friday night, and fittingly enough with sushi, starting our long standing tradition of date night sushi night every Friday. We also played minigolf that first night and like all things in our relationship, we were equals, both ending the round with a nice even score of 51 each.

Afterwards, we then decided on a whim to go and catch a late night movie which now has a deep fondness in our hearts. “Wanderlust” was such a terrible movie with now a ton of inside jokes between us and is even better when we randomly watched the Spanish version many years later!!! Just when we both thought that the date was coming to an end, but both not really wanting to be apart, we decided to go back and play video games until the late hours of the night.

The next morning, we went out for lunch and in mid-conversation, Helena invited Steven out again that night to celebrate one of her good friends' birthday (Thank you Sierra!!!). This would also then introduce Steven to Helena's closest friends group. We celebrated another late night of drinking and having a grand time with loved ones making it so that neither one of us wanted to separate for the second night in a row. So we decided to keep the date going and got some rest that night at Helena and Jinx’s apartment.

The next morning, it was coincidently the Clam Chowder Cookoff at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk so it was off to the beach for another great time. We spent the day walking the boardwalk, tasting chowder, drinking large Fosters beers, and watching the sunset on the last night of our three-day date.

It was difficult but the date had to end and so we had to go our separate ways. Obviously, it did not last long as we were inseparable, spending most nights and weekends just enjoying each other’s company, doing fun things, and falling more in love each day.

To this day, we still cannot get enough of each other and always want to be near each other, talking about nothing and arguing about meaningless little things, laughing the entire time.

It is in this memory of our first date that we decided to throw conventional wedding celebrations to the wind. This way we can spend quality time with the people who mean the most to us, who have seen us grow together on our journey, and who continue to enrich our lives. We love you all!!!