-Sasha- 4 Years ago my friend invited me to the Vans Warped Tour, after much debating I decided to go. There was a brief introduction the night before and the day of I may have started to reconsider my life choices as they were pregaming prior to us even leaving. However, Mike won me over, showing me how considerate he is by ensuring I did not get swallowed into the crowd nor get pulled into any mosh pits unwillingly. We hung out over the next few weeks over bonfires and late night pool hopping (and an almost failed attempt at contact info exchange) until I mustered up the courage to ask him out on our first date. -Mike- It was typical pre-covid year, getting ready for my annual trip to the Warped Tour. That year my roommate had invited a girl that he worked with to join us. She came over the night before because we wanted to get an early start. In hindsight we probably scared her a little by how hard the boys and I bro down but she seemed fine. She was a petite girl so I made sure to look out for her when we were going through crowds and jumping around in the pits. The following weekend my buddy invited her over for a bonfire we were having which somehow led to four people stripping down to their underwear and going for a 1 am swim in a stranger's pool. When I woke up the next morning I found a phone number in my pocket and immediately started to panic but after talking with my friend and getting the green light we started texting everyday. After about a week of that I invited her over to watch a movie but I guess I was moving too slow because on her way out the door she asked me out on our first date!

The idea stemmed from a conversation with Sasha wherein she confidently claimed that I am no good at surprises. She was right but how could I prove her wrong? Then I had the idea, what if I could surprise her without planning the surprise? So I planted my little inception seed by challenging her to a surprise off. We would each plan a surprise for the other and see who executed it best. I then had my good friend Nate ask her to help him plan a surprise birthday party for me. For the next few weeks I got to sit back and let Sasha plan our engagement party. On the day of the surprise party Nate and I went out for lunch and celebrated my victory and the beginning of my new journey while Sasha finished setting up. Nothing has ever filled me with more joy than when I walked out that back sliding door to our friends and family yelling "SURPRISE!!!" only to surprise them with my proposal to Sasha. Winner winner, chicken dinner