Back in 2018, I was in my CrossFit era — young, single, and officially over the Santa Barbara dating scene. One day during a workout, this handsome guy named Gunnar walked in and started chatting with the gym owner. I figured he was just passing through and didn’t think much of it. A few days later, it turns out he was looking for a job and there he was ... coaching the 4:30 PM class I always took. Naturally, I found a reason to talk to him — and by “talk,” I mean awkwardly flirt by asking for help with pull-ups and toes-to-bar. (Small detail: I was a former gymnast and did not really need the help. Lol) He watched me do a few reps, gave a very professional nod, and said, “Yeah… those look pretty good to me.” Smooth. Soon after that, I “casually” switched to the 5:30 PM class so we could hang out after workouts. We started spending way too much time doing random gymnastics moves and laughing between sets, and it quickly turned into something more. Within the first two weeks of knowing him, I somehow roped him into running a 65-mile relay race because someone dropped out last minute. Without hesitation, he said yes — and absolutely crushed it. (It didn’t take long to realize he’s annoyingly good at pretty much anything he does.) That one race turned into three half marathons within the first six months, plus countless hangouts & Escalade make-out sessions. From that point on, we were basically glued to each other. Fast forward to now, seven years later, we've lived in four homes, traveled to who knows how many places, run even more miles, and adopted the best dog in the world, Jasper. And somehow, life still feels like it’s just getting started. Besos, Michelle