We first met through a dating app called Hinge. I had only had it for a week, and immediately connected with Danny. I chose Salt & Straw (an ice cream shop in the LA Art's District) for our first date, knowing I could quickly retreat if things didn't work out. We sat down for an ice cream and ended up talking for hours. I accidentally got ice cream all over my hands as Danny talked to me, but as we got up to leave, he said he didn't care and held them as they were the rest of the day. I deleted my app the week after and have never looked back.

There was never a doubt in my mind that Hayley would most appreciate a proposal following a grueling, sweaty, uphill hike. I mean, on date #1, I learned she had just finished biking from LA to Montana. Biking. I wouldn't even drive that. Especially with today's gas prices. ANYWAYYYY Thursday night. I had been brainstorming the execution of my proposal for a few weeks with the ring in my firebox when my sister Brooke called me "just to check in". I told her I wanted to propose to Hayley the weekend her parents would be in town visiting and that El Moro State Park would be a great place to do it. I just wasn't certain how to set it up without my supremely perceptive partner (give her 10 minutes of any show or movie she hasn't seen and she'll accurately spoil the ending) getting suspicious. Brooke didn't find that such a difficult task - we just had to bring baby nephew Aleks into the picture, since Auntie Hayley deeply loves focusing activities and attention on him. Brooke reached out to Hayley on the Thursday before her parents' arrival, and boom, we had a morning hike with Brooke, Dragan, Aleks, Hayley and I set up for Saturday morning at El Moro. Friday night. Hayley's parents arrived and we met for dinner. Hayley dropped her parents off with me at the restaurant while she looked for parking. They ran up to me in a bit of a tizzy and asked me why I hadn't proposed to her yet, given I asked them for permission a few weeks prior. Knowing I was proposing the next morning, I chose to enjoy the fluster and let them know I was trying but haven't been able to quite figure it out. The conversation ended abruptly as Hayley showed up to the table with a "Danny! My mom is joining us for the hike tomorrow!" This made me happy, because she also clearly had no idea. Proposal day! In a nutshell, I lured Hayley out to a lookout point with a genuinely normal/unsuspicious hiking tradition, dropped to a knee, and asked her to marry me. She said yes. Her mom missed the whole thing because she was admiring how beautiful a day it was. It really was the most beautiful day.

Lily is our golden retriever, who makes us laugh every day. She loves ice cubes, belly pets, and running in the ocean.