It was the Fourth of July when we matched on Bumble- I liked his shoulder length hair and he liked my tattoos and glasses. We owe it all to Joshua Tillman and Mike Judge, really- Father John Misty and King of the Hill were our first two topics of conversation, and it all took off from there. One week after we began talking, Alex invited me on our first date. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant for Pho and boba tea and then to a Barnes & Noble across the street. He asked me to be his girlfriend and I accepted, and we began a tradition of Pho dates followed by book browsing- Still our favorite dates to go on to this day!

Alex had never seen it so, obviously, I had to show him. He was horrified and amazed- now he makes sure every person we meet has seen it. This also solidified horror as our go-to movie genre.

We moved in together 3 months into dating but, hey- when you know, you know! Not to mention I wanted out of Lufkin and he wanted out of his parents' house. We toured exactly two apartment complexes before deciding on ours and, while it wasn't much to look at, we made the most of it.

This wasn't only our first concert together, it was also our first trip together! We flew from TX to CO and visited my sister before driving down to NM to see 100 gecs play at MeowWolf Santa Fe.

Every now and then, I'm able to convince Alex to come thrifting with me around town. One of these fateful days, we were at my favorite shop and I was doing my own thing in a trinket aisle while Alex was a few aisles over. I eventually worked my way to him and, when I looked at the shelf he was in front of, I saw a ring that looked suspiciously out of place and weirdly like the one I had mentioned liking months earlier. It's still my best thrift find to date!