And this is how we first met! The Modernist December 2019, the origins of our love story. What first started off as friendly conversation over our shared love of food and music over OKcupid, turned into a long night of conversation and delicious drinks. As we continued to get to know each other through laundry and grocery shopping dates (our work life was always beyond 40hours) the pandemic happened and we were forced into isolation and a season of quarantine where we got to know each other more deeply. Since then, our love has grown and beckoned us to pack up our cars and explore life outside of Texas. In July 2024, we moved to Denver, Colorado with our pup Ziggy Stardust where spend our time hiking, going to farmers markets and enjoying the outdoors.

Ziggy had a series of back-to-back seizures, and we had both been struggling to sleep, overly cautious of our boy’s movements and needs in case he had another episode. One night, Roland came home from work and was ready to take Ziggy out for a walk, but I decided to take him instead so he could have something to eat. When I returned from walking Ziggy, I started getting ready for bed. Roland was on the floor with Ziggy and looked concerned. He said he felt something really hard on Ziggy’s belly. Worried, I knelt down and started feeling for what Roland had felt. After a couple minutes in distress and noticing nothing—Roland said, “It’s right here, it feels hard like a rock...” and proceeded to pull out the engagement ring. After sharing some beautiful words, he asked if I would marry him at midnight, in the comfort of our home and I said YES!