Most of you know that my stories are known for nothing if not their brevity. You could say the same of my pursuit of Tina. We met fortuitously at Casey Emmett's birthday party in 2015. I quickly discovered that Tina had been my neighbor for years, but our paths hadn't previously crossed. I started offering to split a cab to and from outings with our mutual friends from there on out. On those five-minute rides we got to know each other better. I thought perhaps we could be more than friends, but breaking from my M.O., I decided to tread lightly as I did not want to risk awkwardness as we shared many mutual friends. I started trying to drop very subtle hints, searching for some sign of mutual interest ... nothing. And folks, I do mean nothing. I began to think these feelings really may be one-sided ... good thing I had been subtle. But that's not in my nature so after almost a year of restraint, I decided I'll make one more obvious move and then I'll know for sure. I asked Tina out to dinner and movie. Things did not go as planned. Tina wasn't feeling very well that day and told me she would be a game-time decision. I checked in a couple more times throughout the day, and signs were pointing to no. Finally, 20 minutes out from my reservation, I called up my friend Alex Chiang and told him I had an open reservation at a cool restaurant downtown for restaurant week if he wanted to join. He said sure so I went to his place to pick him up. He gets in the car and I told him I was thinking about seeing a movie so he said "Let's see The Revenant". I said yeah that movie looks awesome; let's buy tickets now in case they sell out. Purchased.

5 minutes out from reservation, my phone rings ... on bluetooth in the car. Now I was keeping this date idea under wraps, again to avoid potential future awkwardness. I answer and Tina says I'm feeling up to it let's go! I said great, I'll be right there. I explain the situation quickly to Alex and ask if he is willing to take an Uber home after dinner. He agrees and we proceed to have a great time at dinner. He leaves as planned and Tina and I go on to the movie. But I have already purchased tickets to The Revenant. Let's just say I knew somewhere between the opening scalping and the gory bear scenes that this was not a date movie. At this point, given Alex's presence at dinner and the movie choice, I am quite sure Tina has absolutely no clue this was originally intended to be a date. I'm not fizzling out like that. One last shot - for real this time. I remembered that Tina likes astronomy and I heard there was going to be a meteor shower. I had also been anxious to try the Devil's Punch Bowl hike way out away from the lights, in Ramona. I asked Tina if she would like to do the hike with me during the day, spend the day in Julian, which is a quaint little town known for apple pie, and then watch the meteor shower from Mt. Laguna. I packed the car with hiking gear, and blankets for star-gazing. We hiked down to the waterfall and I brought Tina to Dunkin' Donuts, a childhood favorite of hers, afterward. We spent the day walking around Julian where we drank cider and ate famous Julian apple pie. Then we drove up the mountain and found a dark quiet spot to watch the shower. I called my friend Mike Sullivan the next day to retell the story of the day and he said if Hollywood made that story into a rom-com it would get terrible reviews because even the sappiest audiences would think it was too unbelievable. I think Tina finally got the point after our day together and the rest was history.

I remember the night that my friend, Missi, said that her boyfriend (now fiancé!) Casey was inviting his friend from work, "Cronin", to his birthday celebrations. We met and chatted and my immediate impression was that he was cute, super nice, and so much fun to talk to. I got to spend time with him at different events, but never really got the feeling that he was interested in anything more, so I was happy to just be friends as I enjoyed his company. One night Missi and I were talking about him and what a nice person we really thought he was; I even said "we need to find a nice girl for Cronin!" Our friendship grew and we started spending more time together - hanging out on the weekends, going to restaurant week, going to the movies... Then one day, I started talking about how I used to drive out east to the mountains to watch the stars and how I wanted to do that again. He said it sounded fun and suggested we venture east, go on a hike, and end the day with some stargazing. I will admit, I was a bit hesitant. A whole day alone? Would it be awkward? I knew we were just friends, but I kinda liked him as more. The morning of, I decided to go and he ended up planning what I eventually realized was our first date (though he will say that it was technically our second or third, but I'm oblivious and didn't see that those nights we hung out were actually dates!) Our first date was the most amazing day, a beautiful hike to a waterfall followed by Munchkins at Dunkin Donuts, a drive through the mountains for some apple pie in Julian, and then a night under a sea of stars way out in the mountains, away from the light of the world.... I felt like I was in the most amazing dream and to this day still have not woken up. When Chris proposed, I couldn't think of anything easier in the whole world than saying Yes. I cannot wait to continue this dream to our wedding day and for the rest of our lives. I think I was very successful in finding a nice girl for Cronin.