Once upon a time, in 2011, there was a boy and a girl who went to college at WWU. They met their freshman year in the dorms. She had eyes on the boy first, but it took the idiot boy 4 months to figure it out. They’ve been together since. The end... Just kidding, their journey is just beginning (gag 🤢).

Mari and I met our freshman year of college at WWU. We got to know one another while playing midnight basketball outside of our dorm (such rebels lol). I had a crush on him first and when fall quarter ended and we went home for winter break, I texted him a very generic "Merry Christmas" text but I also included that I missed him...he says that when he received that text, he realized, he missed me too (AWE). When we returned we found out we had Psych 101 class together. We got to talk even more and we went on our first "official" date on Valentine's Day 2012. We rode the bus to Fairhaven, had a yummy sandwich at Colophon Cafe (in which I acted like I wasn't a picky eater) and then took a stroll on the boardwalk to Boulevard Park. After that, we were basically inseparable. Mari always jokes that I'm not really his girlfriend (because he never actually asked me out) so I guess he just jumped straight to the proposal....five years later (took him long enough, sheesh). Since our first date, until now, we have been through sooooo much. Vacations full of laughter (Seaside, Vegas, Jamaica), large milestones (graduating college!!), getting a beautiful puppy (Sophie, who is almost 3 years old!!), and persisting through all kinds of ups and downs. Mari has supported me from the start in all that I do and has helped me grow in more ways than he can ever imagine. I am so excited for our life together and all of the joy that is to come. I can't wait for July 14th, as Mari and I take this next step, with you all by our side!!!