We met through mutual friends in college and had our first conversation when I "accidentally" left my shoes at Gabe's house after a party. Still friends at this point, it wasn't until St. Patrick's day 2017 that we really started talking and he asked me to visit him in Ann Arbor. After we both made a few trips to Ann Arbor and Holland, we started officially dating in December, 2017. We were long distance for the first 2 and 1/2 years of our relationship. Between jobs in Holland and Ann Arbor and a 14 month deployment, we didn't even live in the same city until July 2020. It made all the moments we had together that much better. The day after Thanksgiving of 2020, after talking about wanting to experience a new place, we packed up our stuff and moved to San Francisco. On May 28, 2021, Gabe surprised me on Lake Michigan by proposing! After visiting Gabe's mom, we fell in love with Southern California and the beautiful beaches, which led us to Hermosa Beach and where we live now!