After weeks of long-distance flirting, we had our unforgettable first date. Because neither of us do anything without our dogs, we decided to go on a dog-friendly coffee date in Bakersfield. The date was going so well we wanted to get lunch, so we left the dogs in Daphne's backyard and went to a restaurant. Jonathan's dog, Charles, quickly found an escape route and proceeded to run across the entire city of Bakersfield to look for him. We spent the majority of our first date searching for Charles, recruiting half of Daphne's closest friends for their assistance. Luckily, our haphazardly arranged search party was able to find Charles just before sunset. We celebrated the happy ending to our incredibly stressful first date in the most Bakersfield way possible - seeing live country music at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace (the place where we shared our first kiss). In the last 6 years we’ve moved in together, gone to countless comedy shows, camped in Big Sur, hiked the Narrows, visited the Pacific northwest, biked through the vineyards of the Santa Ynez valley, road-tripped through five southern states, hiked and picnicked throughout Los Angeles, and bought our dream home. Hawaii was always a bucket-list location for Daphne to visit, so when Jonathan asked if she wanted to go for New Year's she put herself on a self-imposed "engagement watch." After 3 days on the island without any surprises, she assumed that engagement watch was off. A few hours later Jonathan drove her to Lapakahi State Park for whale-watching under a tree, played a ukulele, sang her one of her favorite songs, and finally asked her to marry him. After experiencing a few more set backs than expected (you know, the entire year of 2020), we are so excited to finally celebrate our wedding with you on November 13th.