Those that know me, know that I love a good party! I was living the carefree bachelor days planning out my annual Friendsgiving Party. I was in the process of inviting the newlyweds of the year, John and Marina Youssef, when Marina said: "We can't come, it's Christine's birthday; you would have to convince her to come." Already I am thinking, 'man, John's only been married for a few months and he's already missing parties. Why would anyone do this?!' Of course, I don't say that, I respond that of course she can come everyone is invited and I'll try and convince her. So I shoot her a text: M: Hey C: Hi M: I host an annual party at my house for thanksgiving M: I hear it's the day of your birthday M: Marina won't come because you haven't planned anything yet for your birthday M: John won't come if Marina doesn't M: So why don't you come to the party? C: But it's my birthday C: I would rather celebrate it with my friends M: I mean they can come too M: We can celebrate it here M: I'll get you a cake. C: Ermmm I'll think about it. She thought about it and clearly she made the right choice.

I met Mark because of John and Marina's wedding (we call them Jorina). A couple of months prior to my 25th birthday, I was invited to a onsie themed Friendsgiving party in Chicago that was to be the day after my birthday and I didn't really intend on going. I had already been to Chicago in the springtime and it snowed, so I couldn't imagine being there in November. The only thing Chicago even had going for it was the sweetest little trio of pitbulls anyway. But I jokingly agreed to come with the promise of cake. Fast forward to November - I had completely forgotten about the cake comment. During the Friendsgiving, I was met with a sweet surprise - a cake with a fallen Barbie on the top - because if you know me, you would know I fall a lot. To my surprise, it wasn't from my cousin whom I originally thought, but from Mark. Mark quickly learned about my falling tendencies when we were partnered up for Marina and John’s wedding and of course, I fell during the entrance. During my stay, I fell in love with what I thought was Mark's dog: a handsome blue nose pitbull that can open doors - Kofta. Little did I know that he belonged to a different Mark. As time went on, I started bonding with Mark's actual pup, and I eventually became Titan's spare human. There was no going back after that.