We’re Getting Married!

In 2018 my dad & I decided to do our first outdoor Spartan Race & decided to volunteer during the open house festival; hoping to get a sneak peak at what we would be up against the next day. So there we are, I have my Spartan volunteer shirt and Spartan shorts with my famous flower rainboots. Mike walks over and says this group come with me. As we walked over my dad pointed out the pirate tattoo on Mike’s leg & we both admired it. Mike assigned my dad to an obstacle & me to the Slip Wall/Rolling Mud. I couldn’t tell you what I did that day or how I helped but I remember Mike yelling at some other guy in the mud and something about the water not staying in the hole haha it’s the end of the open house, Mike offers to walk my dad & I up, which was odd to me because he didn’t do that for anyone else but it was really nice so whatever. We walked up to the tent, he said thank you to us and walked up to the front of the Volunteer Tent while we waited in line to get our race credit. Mike was still at the tent when we got to the front —I said bye once again & so did he. Idk what gave me the feeling but as we walked back I told my dad “I think that guy was flirting with me.” he just nodded. We drove back to the hotel, as we arrived at our rooms, I laughed & said “I told you he was flirting!” And showed my dad his message on Facebook saying hello & that he got my name from the front desk & that he doesn’t usually do this. He proceeded to ask if I wanted to go around on course with him but we had friends in town & I was with my dad. So I told Mike I couldn’t and thank you for the offer. We chatted for a little bit on Facebook & then about a month or two later he said “Things were getting messy online & he was staying off Social media for awhile but that I could text him & he left me his number…..Me being the way I am…thought he was like a carnival carny who tried this move with other volunteers & ignored him for a year. Jump forward to February 2019, another social media site & one pink crack sugar cookie post later BAM! Mike is back on my mind & in my DMs. I told him I was taking some athletes in March to San Antonio and that maybe I’d see him there. I showed up to volunteer the day before race day & saw him but I wasn’t 100% sure so I pulled out my phone, found his number in my phone book,(see I at least thought about texting him before I ignored him.) called the number & the man I’m was looking at answered! I laughed a little and was like “hey I’m over hear trying to volunteer… need some help?” He sent someone over to grab me, the friend I came with and like two other people. We were off & this time around there was just something about him in a tank top and showing off more tattoos that made him MORE attractive than I remembered. After we were done volunteering he said do you want to meet up at Chili’s? I said sure & arrived that night with my friend & the rest of the guys that volunteered with us that day because I thought he was just wanting to hang out with all of us & I didn’t want to be rude to the friends I came with. He showed up after we got a table and he was just beautiful… and classy he paid for the whole table! On race day I was offered to meet back up at Chili’s again by one of the staff members,Chelsea, so once again I headed back up to Chili‘s that night but because I didn’t have a car & the person I came with did… I invited him.

When I got there, this time I made sure that my friend sat across for me so I could strategically leave a blank seat next to me for Mike to sit at when he showed up. This time he just paid for my meal & that night I completely ditched my friend because I wanted to hang out with this guy who wanted to take me to get ice cream. So I got into a car with a stranger & two of his friends (sorry mom & dad!) & off we went to to sonic. Fast forward end of the race, I stayed around a little longer & this time I took him up on touring the course & hanging out with him. What really caught my attention was that even as he was working he was asking questions about my job and why I loved doing what I did and he was retaining the information I was saying. As I left, I gave him THE LONGEST HUG I’ve ever given someone & still no kiss so I was like okay I’ll call you. I did and I talked to him all the way home! We talked for 1 week before he texted me from Austin(where he lived) & jokingly said “You should come down here & hang out for the night.” Surprising both of us I said Okay! That night, despite me hating to drive, I drove 3 hours down to Austin after work. He held my hand and kissed me for the first time that night and at 11:00pm on April 1, 2019 he asked me to be his girlfriend.

I met Tyler the Friday prior to race day, while working for Spartan down in Burnet, Texas. This typically is a busy day, with a lot of moving parts, however this production cycle was particularly chaotic, the crew was behind and this day had a huge to do list. Normally hearing you have to work the “Open House” is a terrible proposition because the last thing any crew member wants to deal with before race day, is racers. This day, it was my break from the chaos going on behind the scenes. Tyler and her dad, Gene, were 2 of my volunteers among a small group of people that I had to distribute in the festival and course area. Using several obstacles in a sequence as an opportunity to flirt with the cute girl volunteering in pink floral mud boats and gym shorts, while keeping her dad safely within eyesight, and also knock off a couple items from the day’s To-Do list. Let’s not forget, Time management is always key. I made sure to have both Tyler and Gene in a super muddy area, that way they will surely see multiple people completely eat shit and should laugh for a couple of hours. After their shift was over, I knew I could get a couple more brownie points and buy some more time to chat up her and her dad by taking them to spear throw, letting them have some throws, and giving them some pointers. I knew I couldn’t ask for her number in front of Gene, I don’t need CP3O to tell me the odds of that working, so I took them back to the volunteer tent and hung around, knowing that they would have to give their full names to the volunteer coordinator to check out. Villalobos! Quick facebook check…. BAM! 30 mutual friends! Later that night, I sent her a message and started chatting with her. After getting her number, I tried to come up to Dallas to hang out with her, but she ignored me. Well shit…

Fast forward one year, I’m sitting at an airport and scrolling social media when I see her post a meme about sugar cookies. I make a quick comment about how they are like crack and then we start making light conversation. She mentions she might be at an event coming up and might see me, but I didn’t take much note of it. I mean – she did ignore me for a whole year and I had to mention crack cookies just to get her attention again… but I digress. Once again, it is Friday prior to race day, and I have ton to take care of. This time in the morning as I’m getting ready in base camp, my phone chimes. It’s a text from Tyler asking if I’m working this event and that she is here to volunteer. The other crew member I’m working with asks if there is anything else we need for the day. I said, yeah, I think there is a chick that wants to volunteer with me today. He ran to the volunteer tent and picked up Tyler…. and an entire group of guy volunteers. What a dickhead. But once again I use the workload to keep Tyler close for the day so that I can flirt and keep her laughing. Then she mentions her artwork and the light bulb goes off in my head. I have to paint the Spartan #hashtag logo, and I normally loathe this, but Tyler gladly takes on the task. Double Win!! After the day is winding down, I asked her if she is staying in town and she said yes, so I asked if she would like to go to the local Chili’s for dinner. She smiled and said yes, so I say that I will let her know when I make it back to the hotel and get cleaned up. She texts me to tell me she is at the restaurant, and I quickly run over there. I walk in to see Tyler sitting at a table…surrounded by all the other dudes that volunteered that day. All Of Them. She had invited all 8 of the volunteers that day out to dinner with us. Cleary, she didn’t get the hint. Alright play it cool. We had a good dinner and I went along with all the usual questions volunteers ask. Still trying to show interest in Tyler, I wanted to pay for her dinner. But I couldn’t just tell the waitress to split off her meal and mine, and tell the rest of the group to pay for their own bills, that’s not G’s do it, I gotta make a statement. I told the waitress to bring me the bill, and everyone was shocked but I played it off. No big deal, I got this guys. Big smiles all around, Tyler’s biggest of all. I’m totally Winning! Then I see the bill, and F#*$! Poker Face, Mike, poker face. Well there goes my entire per diem. Looks like I’ll be eating volunteer snacks for the rest of the build cycle. The tip alone was over $75 but luckily karma decided to give me a wink, and while chatting with Tyler at the end of the meal, the waitress interrupted us two so that she could thank me for the generous tip. Sweet, more brownie points!! I play it off again and tell her it's no big deal and thank her for everything. Tyler now looks at me with the biggest smile ever and I know everything worked out fine. I enjoyed my granola bars, Doritos, and apples for the next few days. She stuck around me after her race, not even really just volunteering, rather just hanging out and talking about everything under the sun. It might come as a shocker because Tyler isn’t much of a talker, but we chatted non stop for the next few days, and went out to eat a few more nights. When it was time for her to head back home, we said goodbye in the parking lot at the venue. She gave me a huge hug and hung on for a while. I could tell it meant something more but there was no way she wanted a kiss- she did ignore me for a whole year and invite 8 dudes on our first date. But there was something there.

A week later of non stop talking, I’m hanging out with friends in downtown Austin and Tyler tells me she wants to come down to hang out for the night. To my surprise she drives down and meets up with my friends and I later that evening. We had a great night and while walking hand in hand down the street, Tyler and I had our first kiss. Shortly after midnight on April 1st, 2019, I asked her to be my partner in this craziness of life. She quickly said yes, and she has been my cheesy quesadilla by my side since then.