Kai hired Lauren to clean and decorate his Paseo apartment. He'd lived there with his mean cat, Olivia, for a year but never really put the place together. So with a $60 budget and plenty of imagination, Lauren scoured the thrift stores (and Target) to create one adorable little home. After the reveal, they had a beer and talked so long that he missed his bestie's birthday party.

A little while before he hired her to decorate, he'd actually seen her at a poetry event. She was not saying poems, she was just there listening to her friend's poems and he asked someone at his table who she was. They told him her name and he friended her on Facebook. Soon after, he had a sudden need for a clean house.

Not everything is peaches and vinyl records. Some days are hard. Some days they clawed for the door. Some days, he said "Do you love me?" And she said, "Yes." He said, "Are you sure?" And she said, "I"m very sure. I'm sure like a... like an elephant. Elephants seem sure."

So it happened like this: We decided to take a nap in the park before my meeting. It was my birthday and we happened to have a quilt in the car. We cuddled in the shape of a windshield. Kai said "the moon is doing good things" and I said "It looks like he is trying to rest his head on a blue pillow but the world is doing too many bright things." And Kai said, "Did you know that if you could drive your car straight up, you could reach outer space in just over an hour?" And I said "I don't believe you. That is like going to Dallas" and he said, "Did you know that humans are the only animals with chins?" And I thought about crustaceans and mammals and birds and said, " That seems righter than the space thing." And we tried to take a nap but then it was time to go to my meeting so I said, "Well, babe, let's go do life," as I put one sock back on. Then Kai said, "Yea. Let's do life," and pulled out a small wooden box. Inside was a ring shaped like an opening, shaped like a mouth, shaped like a shining promise and I said "Are You Sure Are You Sure Are You Sure?" like no one could possibly be so sure about me and I gave him the wrong hand and he said it's the one connected to your heart and I said, "Yes. Yes. Yes, of course it is." Some kids in the park yelled like they were cheering for us but they were just going down the slide. It was just us in the park. Just us among all the chinless animals and the moon, doing such good things.

Kai Ridge chose his name and had it legally changed in 2016. Inspired by the power of aligning with your true self, Lauren has decided to choose a name for herself as she steps into this new stage of life & partnership. On October 20, Lauren Zuniga will change her name to Lauren Brazzle. Brazzle is the maiden name of her paternal grandmother, a woman she barely new but respected immensely. As they marry, Kai and Lauren hope to align with their truest selves as they align with each other. They hope to always remember that they are whole & complete beings enjoying a glorious partnership. Shout out to co-creativity over co-dependency! Let's party.