We are in love!!!

We met online. The end. But wait, there is more. Lauren and Matt matched on a dating app in the fall of 2020. (Matt swiped right first, just to clarify). Covid was rampant, but we were all just starting to pretend it was not real because we were all lonely in our homes. Lauren messaged Matt first, responding to his "Want to drink a marg with me?" that was written on his dating profile and they started chatting. After a few days, Matt asked Lauren to hangout and Lauren declined because she had other plans with someone else (LAME). Lauren threw out a basic condolence, "maybe another time," and never expected to hear from Matt again. (This is where it gets good) A few days later, Matt reached back out to Lauren and asked if the next day would work to meet up and drink those margaritas. (Lauren is the most grateful that Matt reached back out and sometimes gets emotional thinking about it.) Lauren did not have plans and said yes. At the time, Lauren was working full time and going to school full time, so the fact that she had a free evening was SO rare. Although, Lauren almost cancelled again because she had stats homework that she could not figure out. (another argument that stats almost ruined Lauren's life). Lauren was determined to go meet this man who followed up and had made her laugh over text. They decided to meet at Matt's house because they were still a little scared of Covid. Lauren would like it to be put on the record, that she would not ever recommend going to someone's house for a first date. There are many a podcasts that would back this up. However, she took safety precautions by sharing her location with her friend Amanda, sharing his photos, having a check in time and giving her all the information she had on him ("He says his name is Matt and he was a zookeeper"). Matt said lets meet at 7pm. Lauren agreed but was secretly freaking out because that gave her like 1 hour before her bedtime. 7pm is wind down time. She agreed though. Lauren drove up to Matt's house, which was very set back on the very dark street and had no lights on. She was scared. Don't worry! She was at the wrong house!!! When she finally got to Matt's house, there was a very tall, handsome, bearded man standing in the shortest house she had ever seen. (Please picture Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf living in the Elf quarters.) Lauren thought "Dang, he is cute. Why did he not use better photos on his profile??" Lauren walked into the house and met Ben, the dog. Matt says "Lauren got out of her car talking, walked right passed him talking, sat down talking, and has never stopped talking since." details.. Lauren sat down on the bar stool at the island of Matt's kitchen, ready for her margarita to be served. (Side note: Matt had told her earlier that day that he made a practice batch of margaritas, the night before. We love it when a man puts in effort!!) Okay back to the kitchen, there was a lull in conversation and Matt said "Soooo.... You want a shot of tequila???" Lauren's jaw dropped in shock, because she hates taking shots. Lauren said "Oh....." And Matt all of a sudden got so nervous and started back tracking his question and his shoulders got all scrunched up. Lauren could have died from the sweetness and cuteness of his nervous behavior and said "I'm in." They took the shot. They both lived. They talked the whole night. Lauren went home with all the butterflies in her stomach and an excitement she had never experienced on a first date and could not wait to see him again. She was trying to play it cool but then ended up texting all her friends the next day about this amazing guy she just met but also stating she was hoping this did not "jinx it". And here we are today.