Depends who you ask... If you ask Alyssa, the story goes like this: One Sunday, a friend came up to me at church and said, "You're going on a date with Paul this week!" I laughed and said, "Ok!". She set up for us to meet at Boomers and play a round of mini-golf. We were nervous, but had a good time. After we finished we got dinner together, and didn't want the night to end. We played arcade games and set up to see each other again. I knew I wanted to keep getting to know him and spend time with him! If you ask Paul, the story goes like this: We actually met for the first time a year or so before our date at a Wednesday night service and I attempted to get her to volunteer on Sundays, but she politley declined. Multiple friends at Reality (our church) wanted to set us up and we went on a semi-blind date. I “let” her win in mini-golf, we ate pizza, and played arcade games among 10 year old birthday parties. I needed to win so we took our prize of styrofoam airplane outside to see who could throw it farther. I didn’t want time to pass without making sure I saw her again so we set up a second date right then and there.

Paul, being a bit of a romantic, planned out an amazing engagement! The plan took place on Alyssa's birthday, December 4th. The day for her started out like any other lovely birthday... sleeping in, coffee, and leisurely getting ready. Alyssa and her mom planned to go for manicures and pedicures, and then lunch after with her dad too. The day was so fun! Alyssa was going to meet up with Paul after he got off of work. This is when his plan began! (From Alyssa's perspective) Paul surprised me with riddles and a bit of a scavenger hunt. Each riddle/clue led to another location and activity. We did things we've enjoyed doing together like bocce ball, and playing Cornhole with friends. From there, we went to one of my favorite restaurants down the street from my house. After dinner, there was one final clue and a treasure map. The treasure map led us to my backyard, where with some help from Justine, Paul had planned out a beautiful candlelit set up with sentimental things from all throughout our dating experiences. Paul got down on one knee, popped the question, and I gladly and without hesitation said YES!

Since the small ceremony on April 10th, 2021, we have loved life together! We kicked it off with a small honeymoon to Lake Tahoe, where we experienced a warm day laying by the pool followed up the next day by a looming snow storm during our sunset boat cruise! All in all it was a lot of fun. In the days, weeks, months to follow... Alyssa moved to Stockton, and eventually started a new job at the University of the Pacific. Paul got to enjoy a break in the summer from teaching, but kept busy with all the details of us buying our first house! In July of 2021, we were fortunate to have purchased our adorable little 2 bedroom 1 bathroom home that is so special to us both. We have navigated the exciting and less than exciting elements of home ownership together and are very grateful for a place to make our own. We have also been able to enjoy many fun weekend trips to places like Monterey, San Francisco, Carmel, and Ventura. We eat our way through each city and have become "foodies". In October, we adopted our sweet pup, Enzo, and he's been a perfect addition. We love him so much! We've enjoyed birthdays, holidays, and every day in between. Life together is so sweet, and we can hardly believe it's almost been a year of married life!