Trevor and Maggie both 'swiped right' in February 2020. Their stimulating online conversation led to a first date on February 29 at Zendo, a local coffee shop. As it turns out, neither of them drink coffee but both found something sweet on the menu to enjoy. That leap day date turned into many more dates and adventures, leading to their ultimate adventure, marriage. Trevor surprised Maggie with a marriage proposal in Washington DC on February 12, 2021.

There I was, lying in my bunk in Hokkaido, Japan, awoken by my friend Matt’s snoring. There was no going back to sleep. Hiding the light from my phone screen, I opened the Hinge dating app, to resume my search for the woman of my dreams. The woman my friends continuously reminded me didn’t exist due to my “impossibly high, unwavering, and unmeetable standards.” Maggie’s profile soon came into view.

There she was, in a maroon skirt, standing next to an impressively erect Saguaro cactus. As my interrogation of her profile continued, I became more and more intrigued by her adventurous, filter-free pictures and typo-free biography. I quickly became consumed by a picture of her standing in front of a very scenic overlook with the inquisitive caption “Guess where this picture was taken.” This was my ‘in’, I knew it. If I could somehow give a close enough answer, she would award me a response.

I thought long and hard but could not think of the exact location. I narrowed it down to a few of places due to the geography in the background, which I concluded were fjords. Fjords are uncommon and beautiful; without a doubt it is my favorite type of geography. I decided to conservatively answer ‘fjords’ so that I would not lose my hopeful award. At the risk of her not being satisfied with my lack of specificity, I sent the message.

To my delight, I earned a response! However, my fear had been realized. Even though I met the question’s criteria, she further inquired “Yes, but where!?” I was overly excited by her enthusiasm and guessed Alaska, which was 3700 miles off… Thankfully, she didn’t immediately excommunicate me, and we continued our conversation. During our first date, I quickly learned of her connection to Norway and of course it could have been nowhere else.

Little did she know, Maggie passed a test within the first few minutes of our first date. Even though I would not have let her pay for her coffee, I stood silently by to see if she would offer to cover her share. Without much hesitation she reached for her wallet. I quickly swooped in to cover the bill, with a big smile on my face, knowing that the ensuing conversation would be of substance.

The next 12 months were full of camping, baking, sporting, learning, banter, hiking, cooking, churching, exploring, and lastly engaging! We experienced a lot of these activities with some of our friends. Maggie has chosen to surround herself with amazing people throughout her entire life. I feel blessed beyond belief that she agreed to spend the rest of our lives together.

Maggie continues to exceed my impossibly high, unwavering, and unmeetable standards. I have never felt so good proving my friends wrong.

Another Valentine’s Day passed, another year single. Time to re-download a dating app without much confidence this time would be more successful. It didn’t take long until a handsome, snowboarder type commented on my favorite picture of me in Norway, guessing where the picture was taken. Although he was incorrect, I was impressed by his response of at least knowing it was in front of a fjord. I quickly learned how he wanted to visit Norway someday and loved to travel. This guy was actually in Japan at the time but still found time to send messages daily and even more impressive was the substance of what he had to say.
As soon as he was back in the States he suggested a coffee date at Zendo, come to find out he doesn’t really drink coffee (and neither do I). The time was spent outside on a beautiful day with a great conversationalist that I knew I was interested in.
After just a few dates the world shut down but luckily I had found the best quarantine partner. We spent plenty of time Netflixing, cooking new recipes, hiking and camping, and just finding out we were meant to be.
After almost a full year of dating, Trevor was traveling often for work so I went to visit him in DC for a long weekend. Wondering why we weren’t going to eat immediately after my arrival, Trevor surprised me by proposing!
Trevor is my favorite person in every way. He is more than I could have prayed for and I am so excited for him to be my husband!