Phil and I met in 2013 when I started working at Factory of Terror. I thought he was the cutest guy ever, but he had a girlfriend, I had a boyfriend, and he also had a bit of a reputation (👀) so he was very much off limits. For a long time, we just kind of existed around each other. Years went by, relationships came and went, but we never actually explored what it would be like to date each other. Then in 2015, everything shifted. I got really sick and ended up in the hospital, and afterward Phil reached out to check on me… very casually after I had apparently almost died. Not long after that, he invited me to a country concert his friend’s band was playing at a bar. Neither of us even likes country, we still don’t, but I knew that was my chance. And that night changed everything.

We kept things quiet at first, mostly because my mom was on vacation and I refused to go Facebook official without her knowing, but I was completely over the moon. Since then, it has been a little bit of everything. We have moved more times than I can count, lived with friends, siblings, on our own, and together through chaos, growth, hard moments, and a lot of really good ones too.

Phil came into my life with his cat, Pabst, who was here first, to be clear, and somehow since then we have added Catsquatch, our dog Vader, and our dog Binks, who is very obviously Phil’s favorite. Through everything, Phil has been my constant. He stood by me during some of the hardest moments of my life, including losing my mom, and supported me in a way I will never be able to fully put into words. He is loud, hilarious, and always ready with a joke, and somehow balances me in the best way. He is also the reason I end up doing things like going white water rafting with little to no notice.

I was never someone who really saw marriage for myself, but when you know you have found your person, it changes everything. He made it worth taking the risk. When Phil proposed, I genuinely thought he was joking, which, to be fair, is completely on brand for him. He had secretly asked my dad long before and planned something incredibly thoughtful with my family. After a trip to Universal, my nephew got me to close my eyes for a “magic trick” with his wand, and while things did not go exactly as planned, I opened my eyes to something so much more meaningful than I ever expected. It was intimate, personal, and full of love, just us and my family. And somehow, he even picked out the most beautiful ring completely on his own, which is still impressive. It was not perfect in the traditional sense, but it was absolutely perfect for us