In 2020 joining a zoom call was the equivalent to waiting in the line at the local lesbian bar, and noticing one charming funny human in a sea of squares on your screen was like seeing your soulmate walk in the room in slow motion and make immediate eye contact. We quickly moved from making cute comments in a group setting to our first covid-conscious date over zoom where we explored our shared love of the outdoors and amazing food with a virtual tour of a national park and we both ordered tacos to our homes. It was a bizarre and special experience 💙 We quickly threw caution to the wind and met up in person. Dae planned the most thoughtful date with a hike along a river, we even picked up garbage along the way (environmental queens [we picked up dog shit and the car smelled horrid lol]), and ended the night with grilled kebabs on the mountainside in lettuce wraps, a favorite meal we still call "date food" to this day. While the stereotype is to rush things and Uhaul overnight, we took things slow, each of us were learning who we are individually and how we wanted to show up in a relationship that had such amazing potential. This felt different. Different good, but uncharted territory nonetheless. At this time Jenn lived in Seattle and Dae lived in Tacoma, not too far apart, but also enough of a drive that we had to make an effort. It was always worth the time sitting in traffic when you're met by such an amazing person waiting for you when you arrive. In 2021 we were on a break. Life had thrown both of us some serious curveballs in the prior years and we needed time to heal to know how to truly move forward. It was April or May when we met up for drinks and Dae mentioned she would be moving to Seattle. It definitely had NOTHING to do with Jenn living there 😉 We were officially together VERY shortly after. After a year living in our separate studios and our relationship flourishing, it was time. We moved in together in the spring of 2022. Commingling our things, our cats, and our hearts. From there time became a beautiful blur of laughter and love. In the fall of 2023 we planned a trip to Thailand. We were both so excited for this trip, it was Dae's first time going abroad and Jenn got to share her love of travel with Dae. We had been talking about marriage and engagement and there was no doubt we were ready. All signs pointed to Dae proposing on this trip. The question was, when? During a fancy dinner? Maybe while we're on ATVs in the mountains? The last leg of our trip was in Krabi, a beautiful beachside town in the south, which it ended up being a bit of a doozy to get there. We had missed our flight from Chang Mai to get there, which resulted in a 2-3 hour flight becoming 8+ hours of travel with a layover in Bangkok. Once we finally arrived, settled in, and had even enjoyed a day to two drinking Singha by the pool, we found ourselves walking along the beach one morning. Jenn could tell this miiiight be the proposal because Dae was suddenly becoming more flustered by the second. Dae says "So, I almost proposed in the airport as we were getting here because a good day with a bad person can still be a good day..." (also did we mention the beach was covered in tiny crabs so Dae was NOT about to kneel). Jenn lets it slide that she was just called a bad person and of course says "Yes!" We've enjoyed a beautiful engagement and are so excited to start the next chapter of our lives together. We are saving up to by a home out of the city where we can share our love of the outdoors, not just with each other, but set up campgrounds and invite others into our sanctuary to do the same. We're looking forward to unplugging from city life when the time comes and growing our family with hoards or fur babies :)