"Meeting you was like finding something I didn't know I had lost."-Kylie, the day she met Albert.

We met back in 2016. Albert worked at the local movie theater in McMinnville OR. My mom and I (Kylie) would go see movies all the time together since we were the only two girls in the family. Every time we would go get tickets along with concessions, I would think he was making eyes at me (oh my goodness...) And of course, I was making eyes at him too, though we both were dating others at the time, so we were on our good behavior! Every time we saw one another, we barely said a word though. This must have gone on almost the whole summer! One day after coming out of a movie, I hid behind a pillar in the main lobby, and pulled my mom next to me. "Look Mom, see him?? He's just SO cute! Man, if I didn't have a boyfriend, I would write my number down on a napkin, walk over, slap it on the counter, and say, you call me!" But I didn't. Like I said, good behavior. Though I distinctly remember telling her that and pointing Albert out to her. Meanwhile (and little did I know,) he asked his friend who also worked there at the time, "Dude, who is that girl? she's so cute!" Yet we still never said a word to each other, and eventually went our separate ways.

Fast forward to 2018, my friend and I were talking about boys we thought were cute, (duh what else do teenage girls do,) and I told her about this mystical boy who always made eyes at me but we almost never said a word other than "Can I please have extra butter and napkins!" I told her how he used to work at the movie theater. "Never knew his name, what he liked, anything. He would be one of those guys who passed me, and I would never know what could've been." (So dramatic right haha.) She looked at me wide eyed and said, "Omg! I know who you're talking about!" She told me: A couple days prior, she posted a picture with me on her social media. Albert and her happened to be at the same big get-together, where he asked about me! "He asked about YOU and he thinks you're cute!" And here I was asking about him because I thought HE was cute. (Fate can be so funny sometimes.) She offered to set us up and of course I said yes! A couple nights later she and some other friends picked Albert up, and brought him up to my parents' house (where I was living at the time. Of course, in the middle of nowhere out in the forest.) I was so excited to finally ACTUALLY meet him, so I told my mom all about him. (As a teenage girl does.) Well, he came inside and MET my parents before he even officially met me. (I was up in my room.) "Oh, we've heard so much about you!" (Oh no... how embarrassing!!) And here Albert was thinking "Oh great... another crazy girl!" We all hung out for the evening; it was a lot of fun. Albert and I traded numbers and went our separate ways. Though we started texting immediately and almost never stopped. We hung out one or two more times with friends. Then one evening, through text I said, "Look, I really like you... and I think you really like me... so figure out what you want, because I think we should start dating." (Imagine if that backfired on me. The embarrassment!!) I convinced him to drive his motorcycle up to my house... at night... without my parents' knowledge.(Sorry mom and dad.) I looked at him and said, "Okay boy, what's it gonna be?" and he responded with a very quick and simple, "YES MA'AM!" After that, we started spending all our time together. He took me to Portland with some of his friends for our official first date as a couple. We got some food at a little food truck, went to a comic book/game store (more for his friends than me but that was okay. At least it was cool stuff to look at.) After that, we went to Powells, where one by one, his friends split away (inconspicuously of course.) I noticed he kept trying to make a move, but I was so nervous and kept dodging them. "Oh, wow look at this book. That sure is a big one!" (I'm not even a big fan of reading!) Finally he made his move and I decided to accept! After that, we got voodoo doughnuts and went home. We spent every moment we could together. The whole time, I would repeat like a broken record to my mom, "Mom, you know the feeling when you've lost your wallet or car keys and you finally find them? That's what I feel like with him. Or like I had forgotten I had lost something, and I didn't even know I had lost it, but now that I've found it, found him... I feel so much better now. Like I feel complete. I don't know how else to describe it. I feel like I've found something I lost and didn't even know I was looking for it."

I had researched the "scientifically best time" to say I love you. I didn't want to say it too soon, mess it up or scare Albert off! Maybe three weeks into us dating, I almost said it. "I... you're a dork... but I appreciate you." He just laughed at me, and that's what we would say to each other in place of I love you. (Looking back, we both wanted to say it but didn't want to scare the other one off, haha!) Nobody had ever made me as nervous as he did. As we were walking one day, Albert told me how he was telling someone how he was on a phone call with me, (a little confusing, I know) then said "Okay I love you, bye," very quick and nonchalant. Keep in mind, I recalled the phone call, and he didn't say it at the time... but my heart stopped. He had JUST said it! I don't think he meant to on purpose, but it just slipped out. Sometimes you just say what you are thinking. (Also looking back, he's told me that when he said it, he instantly saw the happy panic in my eyes.) Part of me thought he maybe just said it accidentally. So, I waited. For Albert's birthday (one month into us dating) I made a jar of 101 things I liked about him. It took me forever to make... I cut up tons of little strips of paper and practiced my best handwriting! We would read them together, but he wasn't working through them fast enough! (Because I had a plan...) Two months later, for his birthday, I made him sit down and we read through the rest of them. Then I asked him if he had ever counted them. "Um... no..." (Right? Like what man would've counted a bunch of little strips of paper, just to make sure there really was 101 of them. HA!) "Well, there's actually only 100 in the jar." (I had kept the 101st folded up in my phone case for the last two months so it would be ready at any point! Talk about planning.) I gave it to Albert and told him to unfold it. (I'm sure it's obvious at this point what was on it.) It said, "I Love You." And after that, the phrase would just flow out for both of us. Three months later, during the summer, Albert was part of a wildland fire fighting company, heading out to Eastern and Southern Oregon, as well as California. He would be gone for up to three weeks at a time, with a possible two days back before he went back out again. I would miss him so much when he was gone. He would send me pictures of the stars, views from forests and mountaintops, wildflowers, and the sun that had turned pink from the smoke (of course he already knew pink was my favorite color). Always with an "I miss you. I wish I could share this with you." He even bought a beautiful postcard with a field of tulips and a big bunny on it, just to write and tell me he missed me. One morning Albert thought to himself, "I think I want to get her a promise ring when I'm back from this fire." (Again, this is fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it.) That same morning, I ALSO had the same thought. So later that same afternoon, I texted him and said, "I've been thinking... it's okay if you don't want to, but I think we should get promise rings." Alberts jaw dropped as he told me he thought that earlier THAT SAME morning. Just another sign we were meant to be. When he got back from his fire, the first thing we did was go to Walmart and pick out the promise rings. Now, through the past five years, he's gotten me 3 different promise rings. Starting with Walmart, to Amazon, to Etsy. And now (finally) to the engagement ring. <3