We got hitched!

We've been friends since we were fresh out of High School. During the Crawford Park days, back when most of our friends lived in that area. I remember always getting excited whenever someone would say Featherstone was coming over because it was rare to see him and I didn't really know him all that well. Plus he was really cute! Life happened and our group of friends eventually parted ways. Many went on to start families of their own and some unfortunately passed away. It was at Mark's memorial service that we reconnected briefly. Soon after the memorial, the Pike family decided to go to a Deftones show in Mark's memory. I didn't know Matt was coming with us until someone said we had to pick him up. There were those butterflies again. Fast forward to August 12th 2017, Matt's birthday. I invited him and a bunch of our old friends over to relive the old days when we used to spend hours at Tracey's house playing video games and goofing around, this time at the studio at my mom and dad's house. He couldn't stay long and I missed out on really getting a chance to sit and talk to him. He could tell I got sad that night but as life would have it, we were about to start a semester of Art History together at Woodland Community College. I didn't have a car an he offered to be my ride. We were both going through a tough time and as we got to know each other better we became each other's confidant. On August 23rd 2017 I sent Matt a distress text and he responded right away. He was in the midst of embarking on a small camping trip and dropped everything, turned his truck around, and came back to Woodland to my rescue. That night I met a man just as determined and adventurous as me. A man that cares with his whole heart and is always of service to others. We ended up at Cache Creek Casino and had a blast enjoying each other's company. We decided to camp out at Lake Solano where I saw a green falling star right above us and knew this was it.

On the one year anniversary of our first date Matt took us back to Cache Creek Casino to relive that night. We went back to the same camping spot at Lake Solano County Park in Winters. I knew what was coming, but the magic of that moment surpassed any expectation I had. He got down on one knee, asked me to marry him, and I said "Yes!"

We had originally planned to get married on April 1st of 2020 but due to the coronavirus pandemic we had to postpone. If you remember that time, it was really weird and scary and our friend, Spencer Byrnes, who was going to marry us, was living outside of the area. At the time it felt strange to have people make such a long journey with the stay in place order. We wanted to be responsible and look out for our loved ones. After several weeks of not knowing what would happen or when we could get married, we found out that Spencer was moving back to Woodland! We jumped at the opportunity and decided to take the plunge on May 30th of 2020. We looked at Putah Creek areas near Winters where Matthew had proposed, but it was so crowded and we weren’t sure if we’d be able to secure a spot big enough for the arbor that Matt had made for us to get married under. Since the beginning we had entertained the idea of having the ceremony at the Arboretum in Davis because it was very open, there is so much landscape to choose from, and it's where we would be starting our new life together as UC Davis students. A week before May 30th we took a drive out to the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden at the Arboretum and saw another couple getting married. We took that as a sign that we should do the same! Our photographer was super excited for us, and even though she had already moved out of state by then, she flew all the way back to Woodland just to document the occasion and be our witness. Luckily by then the stay in place order had been lifted and we had much more confidence in our ability to stay safe and keep our friends safe too. Here’s to all the COVID couples that made it through!