As with many good love stories, Allen and Katie didn't start dating when they first met. In fact, they have different versions of how it all happened. In the spring of 2024, Allen attended a singles activity and spotted Katie across the room. Despite having developed a very unromantic approach to dating based on numbers, assumptions, and conclusions--including a firm conviction that dating apps were not the way to meet someone locally--he immediately thought she was someone he wanted to ask out when the right opportunity presented itself. The evening ended with a conversation, but not quite the opportunity he had in mind. He left a little disappointed and assumed that was the end of the story. Katie also noticed Allen that night and had developed her own firm conviction: she was done making the first move. Holding to their convictions, they each left a little disappointed. Fast forward a year to where Allen and Katie were both part of the committee running a singles conference and crossed paths again. Between organizing, helping attendees, and making sure everything was running smoothly, they had a few small conversations, and Katie was struck at how blue his eyes were and how present he was when they talked--she knew she wanted to know more. However, Allen, busy hauling chairs and generally being oblivious, failed to notice that she was noticing him and still has no idea what he said to catch her attention. Katie thought she was being reasonably obvious about her interest, while Allen thought she was simply being friendly. As expected, he missed every hint. Faced with not wanting to appear too forward but wanting to somehow express interest, Katie took the next logical step and opened up a dating app. She deliberately swiped through everyone that popped up until she found Allen's profile and made the unambiguous gesture of liking it. Since everyone at the conference had access to the premium version that let you to see who liked you, she figured there was no way he could miss it. Alas, two months went by and she assumed their conversations didn't go as well as she thought. It turned out Allen had taken a break from the app. It wasn't until he opened it on a whim that he saw a blurry but unmistakably familiar photo accompanied by the message: "Pay for Premium to see who liked you." Suddenly, several pieces of information clicked into place. Armed with this crucial evidence--and since he already had Katie's phone number from the conference committee--bypassed the app and sent a screenshot with the message: "Saw this...looked familiar. Want to go out sometime?" Their first date followed shortly after and ended just awkwardly enough to keep things memorable. It easily could have been a one-and-done situation. Instead, it became long conversations, campouts, countless walks, freezing waterfalls, home flood mitigation, and all the other side quests that make up a life together. Somewhere between missed timing, mixed signals, and a dating app that neither of them expected to be part of the story, what started as a couple of brief encounters became something steady, meaningful, and real. Eventually, they decided this was a story worth making permanent--and this time, the timing was exactly right.