Tessie was coaching at Brick CrossFit in LA. After being there about year, she began seeing Bruce walking in and out and think "who is that cute guy with the chiseled jaw in the hat? He's so mysterious." Meanwhile, Bruce was a longtime coach at Brick, recently coming back to work at the gym after another venture... but not before perusing the website, to see who the new coaches were, and thinking... "Wow! Who is that cute curly-haired girl?" Yes, it was sparks at first site... followed by 2 years of friendship lol, a little flirting, and eventually a 2nd semi-official date. Their hearts have been growing closer ever since.

At the end of 2017, they began looking at rings. One night, Tessie planned a date night in Manhattan Beach at one of her favorite restaurants overlooking the ocean, called The Strand. Tessie and Bruce have a tradition in which they alternate planning date nights. By chance, they walked by this unique local jeweler... and the shiny-ness that Tessie now wears was first spotted. She knew that was the one... Fast forward, through Christmas... NYE... Valentine's Day..... It was on February 18th, 2018, a Sunday. Bruce had the whole day planned. Tessie woke up to eggs and bacon with buttery biscuits and orange juice. He mentioned he had a "date night" planned, and that the location was a surprise. All Tessie remembers thinking the whole day was "this is the perfect day". As they started driving to dinner, Tessie exclaimed "Oh! I know where we're going!" And she was right. They had a reservation at the Strand, just in time to cheers with rosé as the sun set over the ocean. After Dinner, as they were walking to get dessert, Tessie remembered! The ring! "Hey... since we're here... maaayyybeeee we can just go peak at that ring again" she hinted. Meanwhile, Bruce, cool as a cucumber, takes out his phone and "calls" the store. "They close at 6." He said. It was 6:05p. (Little did she know he actually had no idea what time it actually was when he said they close at 6, but was saved by luck, all the while with the ring in his pocket!) He was able to distract Tess with a donut mission. They went home where Bruce had champagne waiting. After a box of Blue Star Donuts, Bruce carried Tessie and sat on the bed with her on his lap. He said "close your eyes" and began whispering all the sweetness in the world to her, and then lightly slid her to sit on the bed, eyes still closed, while he got down on one knee. When he said "open your eyes" with ring presented, Tessie said... "I feel like I'm gonna throw up"... but she didn't. And then she said yes!