It started with a match that ignited the rest of our lives. Most people don't find someone they want to marry on Tinder, and when we matched on May 11, 2017 neither of us thought we would be different. It was 2 days after pride when we finally started messaging, both intending to have a scandalously fun summer, but 6 weeks later when we finally met in person, it was pretty clear that Tinder could be deleted. On September 9th our friends had a party, where Aquilla decided whiskey deadlifts were a good idea...while she crushed her friends in the deadlift competition, the whiskey was the final winner that night. While Briana drunkenly nursed her back to health, she kept whispering to Aquilla that she was going to ask her to be her girlfriend tomorrow so to be prepared with an answer. Being patient has never been Briana's strong suit, especially when she is excited. On the 10th, hungover AF, Briana pulled herself out of bed to go apple picking withe Kevin and Carly, hoping that the beautiful sleeping Aquilla would forget her drunken confession. When Briana returned, Aquilla was waiting patiently on the couch and said "my answer to your question, is yes". Since then, our answers haven't always been yes. In fact, by being with Aquilla, Briana learned the healing power of "no" being a complete sentence. Aquilla learned the power of joining others in the things they do and allowing them to join her. And together, we have learned how to throw an amazing party that goes beyond the end time. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. And we were able to learn these things in our own time because of the safe and supportive relationship we cultivated with each other. It is because of this trust and the belief that one another is a good person to their core, that our love is able to create space for us to grow together. Almost 9 years in and our flame hasn't gone out yet.