On Martin Luther King Day 2021 Lea had decided to get back in the dating game after a 2020 hiatus. Meanwhile, Walt was checking out the San Diego dating scene after moving from DC in December. They matched on an app called Luxy and made an instant connection over a picture of Walt with Bill Nye the Science Guy. The two would go on to text back and forth for hours every night for the next 10 days before deciding to meet for their first date. On January 28th the two met in Balboa Park at the corner of Laurel Street and Sixth Avenue. Walt brought Ophelia and Lea brought two to-go cups of Cabernet. They took a long walk through the park, back to Walt's apartment to drop off Ophelia and then decided to get dinner and drinks at Barrio Star. Walt had is first exposure to some of San Diego's finest spicy margaritas and salmon tacos while he listened to Lea talk away. After dinner the two grabbed to-go margaritas and took to a meandering walk through Bankers Hill on the way back to Lea's house. On this walk they shared more details of their life and realized they had even more in common than they'd thought. Upon dropping Lea off at her house and the two saying goodnight, both were giddy with excitement and knew that they had found something very special. Flash forward to October 28, 2022, Walt sends Lea a text on this Friday afternoon to ask if she'd like to grab to-go margaritas and take Ophelia for a walk in Balboa Park after work. At this point, the two have done this on a somewhat regular basis, therefore Lea has no clue what is about to happen. Lea tries to squeeze in a quick workout before margaritas, but Walt comes home from work early. So Lea throws on a pair of comfy yoga pants and a sweatshirt and they head out for their walk. Everything seems fairly normal except Walt is noticeably keeping his distance. They are taking a casual walk through the park when Walt pulls a quick right and says he wants to check out a particular courtyard. In this courtyard garden there are two engagement photo sessions and one wedding session happening. Walt decides to move on and then makes another odd turn when Lea says, "Let's go this way, that way is a dead end." She follows him thinking he hasn't heard her, which isn't uncommon lol. They come to another courtyard and while Lea is rambling on about the restaurant above them, Walt says, "There's something I've been wanting to ask you..." and drops down on one knee. Lea doesn't really remember the rest, but it was along the lines of "I love you and will you be with me forever?" Lea, in utter shock responded with "uhh... sure." Walt then asks her again to receive an affirmative "yes" which she joyfully gives, and just like that the two became engaged!