Welcome!

It started with a Tinder and grew to a flame. Now in November I am taking his name! Just kidding! I won't torture you with a whole poem of our love, but I will tell you about Blake and me, us. Blake and I did meet by swiping right. But I quickly could tell that he was different from the other guys I had messaged on the dating app in the past. He had genuine interest in me and cared how he responded. So I agreed to meet him for drinks at Saint James Brasserie, a local bar, in Reno, Nevada where we were both living at the time. Our conversation was going well, but that did not stop me from telling him that I thought we should just be friends and that I didn't feel "chemistry" in a romantic way. But Blake was determined, so he convinced me to keep hanging out and go play some games of pool, lucky I had a table at the place I was renting, so off we went. He was much better at pool than me, I hate losing...I'm working on it. He was not changing my mind in the "chemistry" department and I was ready for him to go home so I could stop losing at pool. Then Blake comes in with a curve ball! He challenged me to one more game with the premise, "If I win, I get a kiss. If you win, I get a kiss." Now I have to admit, yes that was cheesy, but also smooth and I had never heard the line before. And remember, I don't like to lose. SO I accepted this challenge hoping I would earn the win. Alas, he won again. I started walking toward him knowing I owe him a kiss and the energy in the room changed. He comes toward me and grabs me and kisses me and what do you know, CHEMISTRY! He immediately changed my mind and I knew my life was changed forever. (In reading this to Blake he said, "Awe. I love hearing the story of our first date.") Then a few weeks later, Blake's mom invited me to Thanksgiving. I knew that was fast, but I also knew that Blake's mom had stage 4 pancreatic cancer and it was important to Blake that I met his mom and family, so I was going to go. So the morning of, Blake and I were talking and I said that if I was going to meet his family, then we should be official and call each other boyfriend and girlfriend. November 22, 2018. The day we started dating and also the day I met his mom and family. We lost Blake's mom to cancer in August 2019, and we miss her and think about her everyday. She deserves a spot in this love story because she supported us fully and loved me hard in the short time we had together. We love you Lori! Fast forward to 2020 when the world was insane, Blake and I decided to add another layer of insanity by moving our lives to Zanesville, Ohio. It was scary to go back to the unknown in my hometown and take my Southern-California raised boyfriend back with me. But something in my gut told me to go and Blake and his family, being the amazing support system that they were/are, especially his father John (We love you so much!!!), helped make it happen. On our journey from Reno to Zanesville, Blake and I visited with different friends and family and saw many beautiful parts of America. At one of the stops along the way, the Grand Canyon to be more specific, Blake proposed to me and I said yes! Let's just say there are few words to truly describe that day but you must visit the Grand Canyon and a big life event happening there is an excellent excuse to always go back! Truly an unforgettable experience and Blake made it that much more special. Now we are in 2022 and Blake and I are ready to get hitched! I knew in my heart that we wanted to get married on our anniversary, but it took some time to finally solidify the date. But officially we will call each other man and wife on November 22, 2022!