Celebrate our love, one year later!

The first time I saw Matt was in the Fall of 2018, when we started the GoFarm Hawaii beginner farmer training program. I joined the program by myself while Matt joined the program with his sister, Christy. We were both dating other people at the time and were not romantically attracted to each other. As time went on in the program our cohort of students grew close and we all became friends. Matt and I independently ended our relationships and, about six months later, in the early spring of 2019, I started having a crush on Matt because he was silly, smart, and an incredibly hard worker. It was like a scene from a high school drama where I told Christy about the crush and she, along with our friend JJ, tried meddling to set us up. One day Christy told Matt I thought “he was cute” and he dropped to the floor laughing because he thought it was a joke. Shortly after we started dating and instantly fell in love. Fast forward to June 2019, only 3 months of dating, and we decide to birth Ahiki Acres. Before Matt, I enjoyed my alone time so the thought of working and living together felt impossible. I was also nervous to start a business with someone I’d only known for such a short time. But, I was madly in love, deep in the honeymoon phase, and confident I would spend the rest of my life with Matt, so anything was possible. We took the leap and here we are almost 4 years later. How did we get here? Matt and I make a magnificent team and that is truly what has kept us afloat. Matt is the most brilliant human I have ever met. Something breaks at the farm and BAM! Matt has it fixed. An irrigation line blows and BAM! Matt has it fixed. We need a new wash station at the farm and BAM! Matt builds it. I have a nervous breakdown and BAM! Matt patiently loves me. People often ask the secret behind our success and while there are certain techniques or processes that help us to succeed, I believe our partnership is the secret weapon. On New Years’ Eve I proposed to Matt while we were trellising tomatoes, Matt’s favorite farm activity. After a passionate “Yes!” we hugged and continued working on the tomatoes, lol. I used to be indifferent on the idea of marriage but after deep contemplation and reflection I realized being married to Matt is what I want for myself so I went for it. Matt "tried" proposing to me a couple months later during a snowboarding vacation in Japan. While standing on the side of the street Matt asked me to look for his air bib key in his backpack and forgot the rings were there. I accidentally found the rings in a ziplock baggie and bursted out in interrogation (instead of playing dumb and putting it back to await the proposal he planned on the ski lift). I asked Matt to re-propose on the ski lift but he said no lol. On November 2, 2023 we tied the knot under the kukui nut tree behind my granparents' house. It was an intimate ceremony, officiated by our Aunty Danielle. But of course my mom wasn't satisfied so we are having a big pa'ina this year at our new farm. I hope you're all excited for the party of the year (or decade)!