Once upon a time, in a world much like our own, there was a young woman named Whitney who had almost given up on finding true love. She had dated men in the past, but none of them seemed to be the right fit. Until one day, she met a free-range Idaho man* on the internet who was flashing his best flannel. Let’s be honest, that would make any girl weak in the knees. The man, whose name was Michael, struck up conversation with Whitney. He was enamored by the nerdy girl with a million pairs of glasses who was bold enough to post pictures of signs she created that stated exactly what she wanted in a man. (See Photos) He was confident that he could be the strapping young-ish (Ok, mid-thirties) lad she was looking for. She was taken by how he saw the world and they could not get enough of talking to each other. The instant connection was undeniable. On one fateful day, Whitney decided she needed to go shopping at Costco. But not the Costco close to her home, no, the Costco close to Michael's home. This was definitely not a coincidence. Michael, being the charmer he is, was adamant that he wanted to tempt fate and meet her at the retail giant. She begrudgingly agreed. In her defense, shopping with a woman can be tough. On that cloudy December day while she was driving through the aisles of lifted Idaho pickup trucks, she spotted the man who had caught her eye online. He was tall with a chiseled jaw and piercing eyes… or more like average height with a dad bod, a well-kept beard and kind eyes, but same difference, right? She couldn't help but stare. She quickly looked away when he turned in her direction. They nervously met at the entrance and fumbled for their Costco cards so that they could make it past the warehouse gatekeeper. They proceeded to make small talk while snacking on samples and buying a bunch of unnecessary things in large quantities. After a few hours of enthusiastic conversation while trudging on concrete floors through a sea of people, the shopping escapade was coming to an end. As they were parting ways, Michael talked Whitney into going out for drinks. While enjoying their libations they played board games for a few more hours. A few weeks after they met, Whitney was sick with COVID. Michael bought several board games on steam and spent his winter break keeping her company and learning how to play all of them. They quickly became inseparable. The months that followed were filled with many adventures, concerts at Walla Walla wineries, cooking dinner while dancing through the kitchen and Michael even tolerated Whitney’s love of really crappy reality TV. As the months passed, their love only grew stronger. They knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. Michael proposed to Whitney while dancing in their kitchen after a night full of laughter at a comedy show. Like Costco, it may not appear glamorous, but it was their version of perfect. *Special thanks to Lauren Paterson for this term :)