We met in a jiu jitsu class...lots of close contact very quickly but it took 9 months for real moves to be made! Over the course of many classes, car drives to Irvine for more classes, long awkward conversations while stuck in SoCal traffic, I made the first move on Matt's birthday in March of 2019. Some friends had organized a surprise trip to...you guessed it, a jiu jitsu class, and then afterwards for food. Matt didn't know I was coming along. I had planned to give him a card with a strong hint written inside indicating I liked him but I was nervous because I still didn't know how he felt. If you know Matt, he keeps his cards VERY close. Well, lucky for me he appeared very happy to see that I was tagging along for his birthday and our hearts have been inseparable ever since!

After a year and a half of holding onto our tickets, Matt and I finally got to redeem our 3 day park hopper for Disneyland. I had purchased these tickets in March of 2020 right before you know what happened. So, first day at Disneyland, hottest day of the week by the way, the first thing we wanted to do was to head to Sleeping Beauty's castle to take a picture. However, I decide the line was too long to wait and changed our plans for a ride. Little did I know Matt had intended to propose to me then. He had the ring wrapped in bubble wrap in a zipper pocket in his shorts. Don't worry, he moved it into his bag for the remainder of the day. So we spent ALL day at the park and 11.5 hours and 13 miles later the park is going to close in 20 minutes and he still hasn't done his proposal. I'm tired and want to leave but he insisted he needed to use the bathroom. So he takes us to these bathrooms right next to the castle. I realize these were really out of the way but just figured he doesn't know where else to go. I didn't really care at the point either about taking a picture in front of the castle. I was hot and sweaty and beat but Matt insisted...and I'm glad he did. After a sweet moment of admiring the castle he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was a sweet intimate moment for us both! A very nice woman saw the whole thing and offered to take pictures of us. I would have never have pegged Matt to plan a Disneyland proposal, but that's the neat thing about relationships- how we are always learning new things about one another. ...I'm also glad Matt didn't make me have a Monica moment from friends. I already had made the first move! Haha