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.

Registry