Well, technically we met on more than one occasion before the "official" meet. . . . The first time was when I was a Freshman, and Chris came to the ASCLUG Senate meeting to start up a chess club. At the time he had his baby face and really long hair (which is why I didn't recognize him the second time around). I was one of the few people that didn't challenge his club, and eventually, all were on board. By the second time we met, the chameleon himself shifted his look and Chris had facial hair and an almost fully shaved head. I had walked up to my first day of class with Professor Marichal during my Sophomore year, and Chris was just leaning against the wall. He greeted me and complimented my necklace. (I honestly thought he was flirting with me and tried shooting him down by telling him I had a boyfriend. . . . I found out later on that he really wasn't lol.) Chris and I instantly connected since we had similar viewpoints (and the only conservative ones in Marichal's class), and we continuously would walk out of class together continuing with the discussion from class with our professor or sometimes just each other. One day, we were walking out of class and I was on my way to meet up with my friend/roomie, Jordan, for lunch. I had no idea they knew each other until we got over to her and were about to say goodbye to Chris. It was then that I realized that this was the Chris that tutored Jordan in physics, and that our world really is a small place. From then on we started hanging out as friends, which picked up more after the pandemic and we started returning to the classroom in person. Our friendship got to be so close that I basically regarded him as my big bro . . . yikes I know I brother-zoned him at the time. On March 21, 2021, Chris threw me for a loop. Maybe you can ask him how he made his move on me, but from my point of view, I definitely didn't see it coming. That morning he picked me up from my dorm to take me to his church for the first time. I fell in love with Living Oaks, and he agreed to bring me back every Sunday. From there Chris invited me to join him for his ritual breakfast at Denny's after church. I agreed and there we sat for at least an hour talking and eating. Something to know about Chris if you didn't already is the fact that the man loves to wear boots (but specifically steal-toed boots), and this correlates with the story. Well, I guess I had been kicking his feet the whole time thinking they were the table legs. He let me do it the entire time and only mentioned it to me at the end. I was super embarrassed, while he was having fun harassing me for it (come to find out a little later that he thought I was playing footsies with him). He then asked if I would like to come with him to Point Magu. I knew I still had some homework to do, but I figured I had some time to hang with my "big bro" since I didn't have that much to do. When we got there we sat in the back of his truck and proceeded to talk until long after the sun had set. During this entire time, Chris was acting weird as he wanted to give me more hugs (and unfortunately I didn't get the hints he was dropping). Eventually, we were just laying down talking about everything and nothing when he leaned over and kissed me. I have never in my life experienced fireworks like that! Moving on to the next day is when we made it official that we were dating. At the time, I had no idea that Chris would be my forever, but I couldn't imagine life without him. . . . And, I guess the rest is history!

I knew she liked me. I kissed her. The rest is history... lol.

He proposed under the castle at Disneyland!! Tacie's childhood dream achieved!

To have a more intimate wedding without all of the stress, we decided to get married early on July 15th, 2023. In attendance was Tacie's mom, brother, and one of her maids of honor (Patricia) and Chris' best men Brandon and Isaac. We were so blessed to share that intimate moment with those closest to us without the stress of planning a big celebration. We still, however, wanted to share our special moment in front of our immediate family and friends, which is why we kept the date of December 22, 2023 but renamed it as a vowel renewal.