We started off as mutual friends in high school, but fast forward years later, our best friends asked us if we wanted to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and we both said yes. That was the first time in years that we had seen each other again. I (Kristy) didn't think anything of it, but Mark claims that was when he instantly became "head over heels". Shortly after, that was when the snapchat DMs started rolling in. I (Mark) messaged Kristy and offered to take her to the gym I was working at the time because I knew how into fitness she was and to convince her a little more, I offered to take her through the scenic route...through the streets of Stockton (IYKYK there wasn't anything scenic about it at all), but I had to shoot my shot (spoiler alert: it worked). After many beach, gym, and food dates, we became official! It truly felt like we watched each other grow our whole lives; witnessing each other's milestones and goals accomplished; from I (Kristy) getting into the RN program, passing the NCLEX, to landing a job in the midst of the pandemic in 2020 to I (Mark) continuing his education at MJC to finishing off at Stanislaus State and receiving a BS in Computer Science. We were working, trying to navigate life in our 20s, trying to be responsible and work as much as we can, save as much as we can. I (Kristy) lived in Merced and Mark lived in Turlock and even though it was just 30 minutes away, going back and forth and packing all the time started to get tiring after so many years so we talked about moving in together and lets not forget work schedules and working different shifts made it almost near impossible to spend much time together, Let me tell ya, house hunting was hard, but after many open houses later, we finally found the one and got the keys to our house in November 2022. I still remember sprinting around the house and jumping around because being a home owner was something I worked so hard for and to have fulfilled that accomplishment. As a couple, you truly never stop learning and growing because there's always learning curves you have to overcome once there's a change. We had to learn how to balance everything out cause now we are paying a mortgage, all bills on our own, working full time, trying to still do the things we love like traveling and seeing as many places as we can, spend quality time together, and still save money at the same time. Eventually we got the flow of things and figured it out. Now here we are, planning a wedding! We cannot wait for our big day surrounded by all our friends and family. We are so excited and ready to become husband and wife.

After many months of planning I finally popped the question on July 19th, 2024 at Carmel Beach. Kristy already had this feeling she was going to be proposed to that day (she's psychic) so she wore her "proposal outfit" but she didn't know when and where I was going to do it. I originally had planned for us to go wine tasting in Napa that weekend but had to take a detour because of traffic. After many "we're almost theres" we finally reached our destination and I blindfolded her. After removing her blindfold there I was on one knee. That day was unforgettable as we were surrounded by our families and closest friends.