Chris Coogan was just a young, upstart Martial Arts instructor who thought he had the world figured out... Until one day Maggie Sloan walked into his gym and turned his whole world upside down.

Following the path of many before her, Maggie decided to compete in a jiu-jitsu tournament a month before moving across the country to Colorado. Along with other teammates, she and Chris carpooled to the event and spent the entire day together. Always thinking ahead, Maggie managed to determine that day if Chris wanted to have children. This of course came in handy years later. Maggie came in 3rd place out of 3 and eventually realized the smile plastered on her face was because of Chris. On the ride back home, the romantic tension was palpable. Chris - maintaining his cool under pressure - ran out of the car like he was on fire, but the spark had been ignited.

Surprisingly enough, between nightly hour-long FaceTimes and almost monthly visits - either through Maggie's trips back East for work, Chris' adventures to Colorado, and meeting up in many a gorgeous domestic and international location - they managed to develop a strong, loving relationship.

The long answer is her work is based out of Boston, her friends and family are local to New England, and it was easier logistically to be the one to move. The short answer is she loved Chris and wanted to be with him. However, this is no way is a reflection on her undying devotion to Torchy's (torchystacos.com).

Chris proposed.

There was a worldwide pandemic going on (that's still going on) and we decided to postpone our original wedding date schedule for December 5, 2020. Somewhere around that time, the stork made a visit. 9 months deep into her pregnancy and delighted by the new Massachusetts and CDC COVID-19 guidelines, Maggie decided to renew her focus on wedding planning.

A year from our original wedding date. Now, our wedding date is a palindrome and, oh yeah, we have a newborn baby daughter.