We knew of each other in college, but the universe knew we were definitely not ready for each other then. Fast forward a year post college. It was August 2016. One night, I was out with some girl friends. While we were walking down State Street, Kyle was walking 10 feet in front of us. I pointed ahead and leaned over to my girls, “I think he’s cute.” I was instantly warned he was trouble. Inevitably, I ignored my friend’s apprehension and at the next bar gave Kyle my number. Two weeks later, after grabbing drinks once in between, Kyle and Biggie showed up unannounced at my door, wine in hand. As I rushed to take the braids out of my hair and look somewhat presentable, it was too late, he has already seen me au natural. Best part, he told me that’s the way he preferred me. That Christmas, I gave him a gift unlike any I’d given before. I made him a hollow book filled with excerpts I wrote about past experiences. From previous relationships to my Dad passing away earlier that year, it was full of my thoughts and feelings during those moments. My entire heart in a box. I guess deep down, I knew Kyle was someone special and I wanted him to know everything about me. Kyle on the other hand, wasn’t such an open book; however, a year later we decided to move in together. Shortly after, he took a work assignment over 5,000 miles away in Manchester, England where coincidentally, my entire family is from. Being apart for six months was a great test for our relationship. When he got back, we knew our relationship was one that would last a lifetime. On August 14th 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, Kyle proposed to me. He did it at our favorite hiking spot overlooking all of Santa Barbara. It was one of the happiest moments of my life and of course, I said yes!

Late Autumn 2016, Ali, Biggie and I took an evening walk around the Douglas Preserve overlooking the ocean. Eventually, we settled down with a bottle of wine as we watched the sun set over the Pacific. Little did Biggie know, this woman was about to become his mom and change our lives forever. Fast forward to October 5th, we are in the pit at the Santa Barbara bowl on our first "date" date singing along to every Blink 182 song we knew. Her energy was electric, I was glued to her all night. When we met I truly didn't know what to expect. Very quickly, I found myself going out of my way to spend almost every day with her. We shared a lot during those first few months of dating. I learned about her father, her past, her dreams, her goals, and everything in between. I knew I was going to marry Ali when she came to visit me in the UK. It was the middle of a sweltering summer. We took the underground to visit her family and get some dinner. I wanted so badly to impress everyone, but I had sweat through everything because it was 37+ Celsius. I basically tried to take a bath in a public restroom's sink so I didn't look like a sweaty mess. In the end, it was an amazing dinner. It wasn't 'til later that evening that I realized I wanted so badly to impress them because I was thinking of them as future family members. The rest is history.