We Got Married!

Derek and Kaitlyn met in Paradise, CA in May of 2010. There was a concert by Road to Seneca (Derek was the drummer) in Chico, but he had to work that night instead. But, Kaitlyn and a few friends still went to the show. Later that evening, they drove to Paradise where Derek was able to meet up with everyone. Kaitlyn's friend, Tyler, had thought the two may be a good match, so she was interested in meeting this person. After some hours of watching TV and movies, everyone started getting ready for bed, except Kaitlyn and Derek; they spent the WHOLE night on the living room floor in a fort, talking. They exchanged phone numbers, so Kaitlyn was able to text Derek while working the drive-thru at her McDonald's 7am shift to schedule a date. That night, the two saw the remake of A Nightmare of Elm Street and went for ice cream. Kaitlyn's 40 hours of staying up has turned into one long love story.

In 2020, Kaitlyn and Derek were planning their third Europe trip. Obviously, that did not happen. After buying their first home in summer 2021, the two started discussing a vacation. Derek really started pushing for their Europe trip before school was back in session. Kaitlyn had an inkling of what might be coming... The two spent a week in Paris and a week traveling around Ireland. Kaitlyn was just waiting for a proposal, but had no idea if or when it was going to happen. Finally, 3 days before their flight home, it happened. They ate dinner in Dingle (a small harbor town on the western coast of Ireland), then drove up to Dunquin Pier. There were many people around, so the two walked on a cliff some ways away. Kaitlyn was leading the way on this tiny path, where she turned around to see Derek dropped on one knee at sunset--at 9:30pm! Before she said "YES!" she snapped a selfie of the moment.