As the saying goes there’s two sides to every story. Our story also has many sides. My version, Jakes version, and a version if we didn’t meet then we would have met eventually.

Guam? When I first heard the chance to move to Guam I wasn’t sure. I actually called my detailer and said I’ll take Groton. I got off the phone and texted my east coast friends, but just a few minutes later I called the detailer again. Something about Groton didn’t seem right, didn’t seem like the adventure I was meant for. Guam? Didn’t know where it was. Did know it was an island. Didn’t know I’d meet my husband there. Jake moved to Guam ahead of me. He deployed, he fished, he flew at HSC 25, and got up to much more shenanigans with his roommates Kris and Craig. I moved to Guam the summer of 2018. Little did I know I was moving next-door to Jake. It took about four months for us to finally meet. After a night out on the town when everyone was going home I met Kris, Jake’s roommate. Realizing we were next-door neighbors we exchanged numbers and Kris chatted about how they had a boat, they fished, and they made the best fish tacos. The next day I woke up to a text about fish taco night at their house. As I debated saying no and staying in I thought I would never meet anyone on the island if I didn’t put myself out there. That night I went next-door not knowing anyone except for Kris who I met the night before. I walked into the apartment and was introduced to everybody including Jake. Jake paid little attention since he was playing Mario kart and was about to lose. But that’s where our story starts: a fish taco night, a quick introduction, that lead to a friendship. A friendship that then blossomed into what it is today. Over the next couple of months I would go over for dinner. The boys would cook and I would bring the wine. Sunset on the beach, nights out on the town, cooking dinner together and as time progressed we realized we could be more than friends. We shared a lot of morals, belly laughs, fish tacos, and started to realize anytime we were free we wanted to hang out. That’s where our story started. Everyday I am thankful I called my detailer back. I knew I needed an adventure like Guam, an adventure that lead to the best adventure of all my life with Jake.

Well, it all started around the August 2018 timeframe. I was living in a condo on the beach with Craig (best man) and Kris. One day heading out of our parking garage, I noticed this hot blonde girl driving a red jeep down our common alley way. I noticed she turned into the condo complex next to ours but had no idea she actually lived there. I would go on to rarely see this mysterious blonde girl again. At this point, I didnt know if she even lived there or that she was even a nurse. A few months went by and I maybe saw this hot mysterious blonde girl drive down the alley road only a couple more times. It wasnt until maybe late Novemebr 2018, when unbeknown to me, Erin Ryan, Joe Ryan’s husband and squadron mate of mine was Monica’s Divo. The Ryan’s at the time had 2 young boys that I would stop by every once in a while and say hello and play with them for a little while. One day while over at their house, Erin mentioned that there was this nurse I worked with who was recently new to the island and asked if I would be interested in meeting her. I said yes (hoping that maybe it would be that blonde girl in a jeep that I had seen a few times) and thought I’d be meeting her sometime over the weekend. Well that never panned out and about a month went by until one day Craig, Kris, and I had gone fishing and caught some wahoo. We invited some people over for fish tacos that night. Little did I know that one of the people coming over would be Monica. I had finally met the hot blonde and confirmed that we were actually neighbors! Everything about Monica’s side of the story is 100% true the night we met…..I didn’t really pay much attention to her as we were playing some games and watching a movie. We kinda kept in touch here and there til her birthday at the end of February 2019. She had invited Kris and I out to meet up with her and her friends at on of the hotels on the beach for happy hour to celebrate. It wasn’t until that night the I knew I wanted to date her! We started talking more after her birthday and soon realized that our friendship was turning more into a relationship. I never would have thought that I would have met this hot blonde girl if you would have asked me this back in August 2018 when I first saw her. Well it just shows you that things happen for a reason and I’m so thankful and lucky to get to call Monica my fiance and soon to be wife!

Once I was stationed on Guam, I started working at the Naval Hospital on the medical/surgical unit. After about three months there I was told I could switch to the emergency room, which I quickly said yes too. I had a good friend from college that already worked in the ER, so it meant more time to hang with her too! I started orientation and was quickly settling in. One day I was in conversation with my old college friend and my new Division Officer. We were talking about how I was getting along in the ER and Guam in general. As they were trying to get to know me better, they asked me if I was single. I told them I was. Later on that day my college friend asked me if I was into older men. I thought the question was very out of the blue and when she said older men I was thinking someone in their 40s, maybe even with children. I remember saying something along the lines of I could be open to it. I was trying to be nice but not trying to open the floodgates all at once. Little did I know she reported back to my Division Officer, who was married to a helicopter pilot at HSC 25. What I didn’t know then but I found out later was that my Division Officer was trying to introduce me to Jake. About two weeks before I met him, she said when she met me, she already knew him and that she thought we would be a great fit. When she found out we met and started talking she was so happy. Over the next 2 1/2 years on Guam, Jake and I would go over to their house, babysit their kids, and hang out as nurse/helicopter pilot couples. I love our story in every version because I believe it shows we were fated to meet on Guam whether by fish taco night, being neighbors, or a blind set up.