Chris' Story; This starts with a work conversation about what I was planning for the weekend. I can't remember what my response was, but it sounded lonely and touristy to them. That's when a coworker jokingly said "You need to get on Tinder!" I had never even heard of it before. I had so many questions. Then another person said just download the app, you can always delete it. The next weekend I was an addict. Imagine having a snapshot of the most interesting people in LA on your phone. One especially stood out and we had a mutual friend that I could ask if she was crazy. One fateful swipe and it was a match! I asked Amber to meet me at The Commissary which was a coffee shop in my apartment building. I got there early, staked out the best seat and waited. When she showed up time stopped for me. And I would not let her leave without seeing me again. Amber's Story: After being in a dating funk, a co-worker of mine suggested I try dating apps. This has never been of interest for me but I figured, "hey, why not?" She suggested I try POF and Tinder. I chose Tinder only because I was more familiar with the name, but disclaimer: I wasn't aware of the reputation it had developed. I signed up and tried it out for a few days. It was fun to swipe back and fourth at first but then I started to loose interest. After a few more days of swiping I was just about to sign off for good. But then, I swiped, and made a match I was pretty interested in. After noticing that we had a friend in common, I felt a bit more at ease. Chris and I started chatting, and after a couple of days agreed to meet in person. We picked a neutral spot (or so I thought) and met on a Tuesday evening after work. I got there, parked, and walked toward the coffee shop where we agreed to meet. As I turned the corner, there he sat, waiting for me. We looked at each other, probably thanking God that we actually look like our photos, and the rest is history. That was on August 25th, 2015...

Amber's Story: On May 12th, 2018, Chris' 35th birthday, we had plans to celebrate with a dinner. Chris just wanted us to chill for the most part that day, then go to dinner later. He didn't tell me where dinner was (I assumed he was surprising me with a place we've been talking about going to for a while) so I asked what he thought was appropriate for me to wear. He picked the red dress he bought me as a gift sometime prior. On the way to dinner he wanted to stop by the coffee shop where we met. He lived in the building above the cafe and just said he'd been wanting to stop by for a while now since we had "a little time" before our dinner reservations. I thought it was strange to go on his birthday and right before dinner, but I just shrugged it off as him just wanting to do something a little different. We ordered our drinks (he ordered the exact drink he got when we met, I just got a tea not realizing what he was doing), sat down for a little (in the same spot we first had a face-to-face conversation), talked, and people watched. Then the alarm on his phone goes off and he starts acting strange. At that point I distinctly remember him saying "ok, this is about to get weird." He takes my phone, we stand up and walk to the sidewalk next to the cafe. He began to talk to me. His voice got shaky and he started to tear up, then I KNEW. At first I was worried but then quickly realized what was going on. After he said the things he wanted & needed to tell me (we will keep that between us), he asked me "are you ready for this?" As I tried to catch my tears and keep my nose from running all over the place, I nodded my head and said "yes I am". He dropped to one knee, and asked me a very specific question. And here we are... Chris's Story: I got everything I wanted on my birthday. Not only did I get engaged, but we also had an amazing birthday/engagement dinner that night. Amber's friends and family came from near and far to celebrate our big day.