We met at a time in our life when neither of us were available; one of us was already "adulting" with a 7 year old daughter, and one of us was graduating college and felt like she was going to change the world. Naturally, this sent Alec straight to his favorite place -- the friend zone. Turns out, calling each other "buddy" and "pal" wasn't as funny once real feelings started to develop and a genuine connection was made over late night runs to Taco Bell and belly laughs to Portlandia. The chemistry was undeniable, and we both brought something to the relationship that the other desperately needed. Alec was calm, patient, steady, and kind, while Kenzie was chaotic, adventurous, and aspiring towards the future. Together, it just worked. Not without it's challenges, of course. We faced more hurdles than we thought we could even handle during our first year together -- we moved in together, moved out together, learned how to parent together, moved in with Alec's parents, lost significant people in our lives, changed jobs, plus more that we probably shouldn't disclose to our relatives. But never once did we question our commitment to each other or the value that this relationship brought us. From that point, we have truly grown up together and into the (much more functioning) adults we are today. We couldn't have gotten through these past 5.5 years without the support of one another...which is why we are getting married so that we don't have to :)