Although we met as teenagers, we got to skip right over those awkward ages and started dating as young adults. We reconnected through AOL Instant Messenger. An oldie but, a goodie. Okay so it's just an oldie. We chatted straight through the night and into the next morning when Budd charmed a first date onto the calendar. Our first date was magical. Bride-to-be decided to pick a truly skin-crawling, horror flick (typical Mariko move) that instantly replaced romance with the kind of creepy feeling you can't shake even after the credits roll. Luckily, the meal choice was a perfect (and to this day unbeatable) meatball sub - can't stay creeped out when you're laughing through a marinara sauce smile. We ended up back at the theater to see a second movie that day, a comedy picked by the Groom this time. We sealed that date with a kiss and moved into our next decade together, madly in love. We've already done so much together and we're excited to continue our great adventure, but now as husband and wife.