I decided to organize a brunch to try to talk to Jess because I thought she was cute. Unfortunately, after a misread text, I came under the false impression that she had a boyfriend. Despite this, with each small interaction we had throughout the fall, I began to fall in love with her. After a month and a half of sadness, I was out to lunch with a friend. He advised that I ask Jess out. I lamented to him that she was already taken. So he told me he’d check with his wife and finally the misunderstanding was cleared up. I immediately jumped into action and began planning group events every week to try and talk to her. I would rotate the other single guys when planning the invite list so none of them got too much face time. After a month of getting to know each other, I was ready to ask her out. I prayed that God would give me an opportunity and not one hour later an opportunity the size of the Grand Canyon showed up. We went out to coffee the day after Christmas and never looked back.

Early on in dating I gave Jess a leather journal as a gift. Each month, on the day we started dating she would give it back to me. I'd write her a hand-written love letter and then return the journal so she could read it. Little did she know this was all part of the plan. Each note represented a specific snapshot in our dating relationship. As I wrote her notes in the journal, I left a blank page after each note. Then, as engagement approached, I wrote Jess an accompanying love poem for each note. On our 6th monthiversary, I took her berry picking for her favorite berry, marionberries. Then we went and had a picnic. As she ate I pulled out my journal. She assumed that she would be getting her 6th note. She would, but I began at the first poem instead. The poems walked us through our entire relationship. Then after reading the final note and the final poem, I asked her to marry me.

The first time we met was July 2023 at a friends house for dinner. This was the summer that Michael moved back from Chicago. At this dinner party I introduced myself to Michael and he introduced himself and moved on to another conversation. We sat next to each other the whole dinner and didn't say a single word to one another beyond pass the potatoes. Michael left the dinner early to finish up some work. After that dinner we don't really talk to each other for the next few months. In October Michael sends a mass text for a Saturday brunch at a friends house. I did not receive the initial text because Michael has an Android and he added me to the group text later. I texted "Didn't get the original message, what's happening?" So that Saturday morning I showed up to the brunch late after a morning walk/run with my friend Kiana. I showed up late with donuts in hand to find the brunch turned into yard work, I greeted Michael as he was shoveling dirt and he met me with a quick "Hi" and nothing more. After this interaction I didn't think much, so went along with my life. In December right before Christmas, I randomly ran into Michael on a work day. That was the day he asked if I wanted to grab coffee on any of the days after Christmas. I said sure, and a few days later we went on our first date.

Portland is known for their berries in the summer, and I love Oregon berries. Michael decided that we would go berry picking on the weekend of our 6th month anniversary. We went to pick my favorite berries, Marionberries. We picked all morning till Michael was "famished" then headed out for a picnic in a park. Per usual on our monthaversary Michael would write me a note to reflect and mark another month of dating. This time we went back and summarized the previous notes and read out loud poems that he wrote regarding each month. The whole time I tried not to think about if this was it, the moment he would propose to me. At the end of the last poem he stood me up and pulled out a ring hidden underneath mochi that was stored in a yogurt container. Long story short I said yes.