It was summer solstice 2022 and naturally Sam wanted to go to the Seattle Solstice Festival only to see the naked bike riders parading through the streets of Ballard. She had to go to the bathroom and by the time she got back, she missed the entire event. She then went to met up with some friends at Fremont Brewery. Sam’s friends were gathered around a long table and there were 3 people at the end of the table she didn’t know. She was quickly informed that these were coworkers of one of her friends. Devin was amongst those new faces. Sam and her friends were heading to a birthday party after that and when Devin was asked if he wanted to go to a soccer game or the party, it was an easy choice. This party consisted of several competitive events that pitted the teams Sam and Devin were placed on against each other. Throughout the night, Devin attempted to flirt with Sam but she was too focused on the events to notice. It wasn’t until Sam’s friend alerted her that she thought Devin was trying to flirt with her that she started realizing. The end of the night arrived, and Devin quickly got Sam’s number and attempted to lock down a date for a few days later.

Devin had only lived in Seattle for 2 weeks so Sam graciously offered to plan the date. It had nothing to do with her sense of always needing control. The Perfect Plan: Take him to a brewery by her house, if things don’t go well - leave after drinks, if things go well - take him to the driving range but don’t tell him so he can’t bring his own clubs. Thankfully drinks went well and it’s a good thing Sam did not care about how bad she was at golf.

Devin and Sam decided to run their second half marathon. Sam said she would never run another half in her life after the first one but apparently she had memory loss. The first year, all of their friends came up to cheer them on. This year, they decided to invite their parents to the San Juan Islands to watch the race. It had always been on Sue Mussell’s (Devin’s mom) bucket list to visit the San Juan Islands after Devin moved out there. We arrived at the AirBnB and basically everything was broken: fridge, speakers, handle to the bathroom sink, the internet, the list goes on. If anyone knows Sam’s dad- they know how unhappy he was to pay for something that wasn’t fully functioning. Sam was pretty stressed about the race and this was the cherry on top. Everyone in Sam’s life thought the proposal was going to happen at the finish line of the race. Devin knew Sam better than that. Proposing after running 2.5 hours was not going to be a good look for her. The day before the race he told her that his mom really wanted to visit this light house on the Island. Sam thought nothing of it and went along with the plans. When they arrived at the lighthouse, you could see all of the mountains and other islands around San Juans so clearly. She wanted to go take a picture down by the water. Little did she know, Devin was going to ask her to spend forever with him. Meanwhile, at the top, Devin’s dad was admiring the tide coming in during the proposal.