Like most young people during the pandemic, we first met each other on the dating app Bumble. What really brought us together was fate. The timing was perfect. Katie just happened to be home for the summer from pharmacy school up in Winchester, Virginia and staying with her parents in Ashland. I just graduated from George Mason University and was fortunate enough to be working from home as a software engineer at my parents in Glen Allen. My mom recommended a professional counselor to help me adjust to being more independent. Right after finishing professional counseling, I was told to actively look for a partner, so I was taking dating apps very seriously. When we matched, we bonded over our love of board games. Unfortunately, things fizzled out for a week when Katie's family went on their annual family vacation, and she was busy with other things. Lucky for me, she gave me another chance, and we really hit it off once we really started talking deep topics. When she did leave for her vacation, she dropped and broke her phone, cutting our communication short for a few days. Luckily, she had brought her iPad with her, and we were able to start talking again. When she came back, we went to Top Golf for our first date. I was also Katie's very first date on Bumble. I didn't even have my own car and had to borrow my dad's to get there. It was very crowded and we had an hour to bond outside before we were able to get a bay to play, which worked out perfectly. Katie had never touched a golf club before (except maybe a putter in putt-putt). I had extensive experience with golf and spent our first date teaching her all I know. After getting to know her and spending the date tackling a problem together, I knew I wanted her to be my girlfriend and asked her that very night to which she replied, "Yes!" I knew this was going to be our last first date. Not too long after, we went to Busch Gardens for Howl-O-Scream for their spooky mazes. They were scary, and I enjoyed a nice brisk night holding her hand. It was a late night, since it was so close to Halloween, and they were open later than usual. Instead of going home, I took her to my grandparent's house, Hilltop, in New Kent to stay for the weekend. We explored the property, took nature walks, and drove around on my grandfather's UTV. I had been here countless times growing up, so I knew my way around without a map, and got to show off my navigational skills. Being able to experience all these familiar places again, but share them with her brought a whole new light to my life. It made me realize I had fallen in love with her and told her that night. Months later, I was having a hard time looking for roommates to move out of my parent's house. My friends just weren't at that stage yet, and I didn't want to live with a stranger. Katie was going into her last year of pharmacy school and her roommate had just dropped out of school, so she was looking for someone to fill that spot in her two bedroom apartment in Winchester. I visited her a few times already, so I was familiar with the apartment and area. After much thought, we decided to move in together. It was tough moving away from home, but it gave me the much needed independence I was looking for, and I got to live in the mountains. Living together brought its own challenges, but it made us stronger as a couple. When Katie graduated from Shenandoah, both of our parents came up to see her graduate and walk across the stage to receive her master's and doctorate degree. We were planning on moving back to Richmond soon, and I knew she would miss living in the mountains. I decided to take her to a place called Bear's Den, a scenic natural overlook in the heart of the mountains not far from Winchester. Before we went, we got Jimmy John's and backpacked to the summit to have a picnic before sundown. Once sunset hit, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me to which she replied, "Yes!"