There they were, a moment ago strangers now cornered by the fierce maw of a dragon. “Stand back!” he said, drawing his blade. “Stand back? Why would you think I would be the one to stand back? Just because I’m a woman?” she retorted with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes. He immediately looked embarrassed and said, “oh…no I didn’t mean it like that. I completely see where you’re coming from, I got carried away and went with the cliché.” The dragon rolled its eyes, raised its head, and let out a huge stream of fire accompanied by a roar that shook the foundation! To which Anna said to the dragon, “okay we don’t need all of that. We can behave better collectively, alright?” She then drew her spell book from her wildly colorful beaded satchel and shot Matthew a knowing glance. He smiled and said, “together?” “Together” she said back matching his smile. And through the power of love, magic, and feminism, they slayed the dragon effortlessly. JK…we met on Hinge! Our conversation flowed immediately after matching and we were eager to meet up for a first date! We met for a couple drinks and time flew by in the best way - neither wanted the date to end, in particular Matthew who asked if Anna wanted another drink, she replied no because Matthew completely forgot about the fact that it was quite literally a school night and Anna had to get up early to go teach art for elementary students! But don’t worry, just because the first date ended when it did, it did not stop us from meeting up again shortly after and now the rest is happy history!

The couple were fortunate to take a two week long trip to Japan in the summer of 2023. While the trip was going to be amazing regardless, and they were both incredibly excited to go, Anna had no idea that Matthew had a secret surprise planned. At the beginning of the year, Matthew let Anna's family know that he wanted to propose and told them the plan to ask during their trip. Between January and July, he found the ring and the details were finalized (also with the help of Anna's sister, Kryssa, who gave incredible advice and confirmation that Matthew wasn't doing anything too outlandish, which was a strong possibility given how his mind works). The couple wanted to visit a hot spring during their trip, and Matthew seized the opportunity to take over the research and booking. He knew the place had to be perfect, and after combing through lists, websites, and TikToks, he found a very special place in a town called Hakone. While on their way to Hakone, despite being fully confident in how Anna would respond, Matthew's nerves started to kick in - asking several times if she was feeling alright, how was she doing, and showing an above average anticipation to get to the resort. Once they arrived, they were greeted with a spectacular view, wonderful staff, and a still visibly nervous Matthew (thankfully Anna being the positive free spirit that she is, she was just happy and excited to be there). After they got settled and enjoyed some of the resort's amenities, Matthew subtly as possible got the ring from his bag and went out onto their room's balcony to meet Anna. He got down on one knee, and all of words he wanted to say disappeared from his brain, but he was able to tell her that he loved her very much and asked her if she would marry him. Thankfully for him their love was and is stronger than his inability to get the words out and she said yes! They called their friends and family (which was first thing in the morning back home), celebrated just the two of them, and got to spend the rest of their trip happily engaged to one another.