The Adventure Begins

We first met on a dating app when Mattie moved from Philly PA to ABQ NM at the end of 2018. Our schedules never lined up to actually meet in person. Mattie moved to Pagosa Springs CO in the fall of 2019 and so the chance to meet in person went down drastically. Even though she moved away, we kept in touch and stayed friends. Xan was missing the hot springs and on a whim decided to come visit Pagosa Springs. It just happened to be the 1st of the year in 2021. We then took turns on who drove to visit each other every month. Xan loved to make Mattie sad by sending her photos of Freya being upset every time she went back to Pagosa. Freya got to join in on a couple of road trips up to visit though, and she had a blast. Then we had a BIG trip in the middle of the year to visit Flagstaff AZ and then to visit Austin TX. We got to spend some time with family in both of those places and do some sightseeing. By the end of 2021 we decided to move in together. Sadly, Mattie left Pagosa because it was much easier for her to switch jobs. She now LOVES teaching from home! We went to several weddings during the 1st half of the year. Then we went to Texas to visit Mattie's dad so Xan could ask for his blessing. We had so much fun getting to see some friends in that trip as well. Xan proposed right after his birthday in August 2022 and we don't want to wait forever so we planned for a 2023 wedding. We had a blast in our vacation during October! We went to PA and Mattie showed him around. We went to see her school, hometown, Hershey and much more! The favorite part of the trip was definitely meeting up with Morgan and her fiancé for the Renaissance Faire! It was Scottish weekend, and yes, we did dress up.

We are looking for our own home! It has been difficult, because of the market. Homes were going in less than a day and we couldn't even get in to see them! The market has switched gears and homes are staying longer, which is good because the price comes down. The bad thing is interest rates are sky high right now. We are just keeping an eye on everything and our fingers are crossed as the rates will come down soon. We have most of our wedding already planned! WOO! It's more of a casual, fun, backyard get together with our closest friends and family. We decided since we're also looking for a home, a small wedding would be much easier to pull off. Xan is looking at going back to school for a dual masters, which would lead him down the path of hospital administration. Right now he has picked a number one for his school and getting in the application! Mattie is still creating art and taking photos. She is still teaching online art classes as well! Freya rather enjoys the fact that Mattie works from home. She usually curls up on the dog bed in the office as Mattie teaches. Freya is nice and calm, cool, collected the entire day until Xan gets home. Then she has the zoomies and is rather crazy for awhile.

We bought a house in March! YAY! It was a long road, but we made it. It is about 30 days out (IT'S SO CLOSE!) and we had some updates. Check out the schedule for the new details!