We met March 2023 when a mutual friend encouraged Kylie to join his group of nerdy friends. Kylie joined the group chat and McKay was hosting a pizza and Mario Kart night at his apartment that week. While she was nervous at first with all the new people, Kylie went and laughed more that night than she had in months. It took some time, but after escape rooms, General Conference watch parties and various other shenanigans with this group, McKay and Kylie became friends.

The same mutual friend who introduced us had begun telling McKay he should ask Kylie out, and this "encouragement" continued for a few months. After some negative dating experiences, McKay was initially wary of starting any new relationships, so the mutual friend changed tactics and started telling Kylie she should ask McKay out. A few of their other friends also saw the potential and encouraged both parties. Kylie wasn't sure if McKay was interested at first, but she became more and more interested in him after continuing to get to know him better over the semester. Eventually, after a Saturday trip with their friends to have fun down in Ogden, Kylie decided she just was too interested in McKay and needed to know one way or the other if he was interested in her. So she asked him out the following Tuesday in a brief private moment during their friend group's regular lunch. He said yes!

Friday November 17, 2023 was our first date. The plan was simple: just grab some Latino pastries to eat in a nearby park, an idea inspired by our love of food and both having served Spanish speaking missions. What was supposed to be a casual date of an hour or so turned into five hours as we just kept talking and having fun. We were amazed. Who knew first dates could be so fun and not awkward? Our second date ended up being the next day because we wanted to see each other again before he would leave for Thanksgiving break. Another several hours of just chatting as we walked around campus then talked on a couch. A week later, after Thanksgiving traveling and both of us getting sick, we were chatting on an hours long video call and agreed to officially start dating. We had three weeks in person before Kylie returned to California for a semester off and we would spend the next four and a half months dating long distance.