It all began with an Instagram DM. At the time, I was living in San Luis Obispo for college, and Derek was living in Clovis, working toward becoming a firefighter. Two weeks after he slid into my DMs, he drove all the way to SLO to meet me — the day after my 21st birthday. We spent the entire day together with my roommates and his friend James. From that point on, we both made the intentional effort to see each other as often as we could, despite the distance. We would stay up all night talking on the phone, and every time Derek came to SLO, we spent the day talking about God, cooking new recipes, walking Jax (my dog) during sunset, going on hikes, and going to the beach. Our connection felt natural, effortless, and truly special from the very beginning. For our first official date, Derek picked up me and Jax, and we drove up into the mountains to Ponderosa, CA. We spent the day reading our Bibles, admiring God’s creation, talking about life, and getting to know each other on a deeper level. Later that evening, I met Derek’s parents (yes on the first date!), and he and his mom taught me how to play pickleball. Afterward, Derek and I stayed up talking until almost 1 am. Our first date lasted nearly nineteen hours — we just genuinely loved being together. After an incredible month getting to know each other, I told him that we should just remain friends for a while — even though we had clearly already developed feelings. I wanted to be intentional and not rush into anything. However, this didn't last very long. So for about a month, we were “best friends”… until I finally caved — and on June 25, 2024, Derek asked me to be his girlfriend. And just like that, our adventure together began.