We met at a popular college hangout near Arizona State University in Tempe (Casey Moore's). The place was packed and I asked if my friend and I could share a table with him and his friend Miles (he later told me he saw me and hoped I would ask to sit down). We became immediately attached and our friends bailed while we stayed and talked all night until the place closed. He walked me home that night and the next day we got coffee. The Cleveland Indians had been playing in the World Series and winning, but after we met they begin to lose. He is a superstitious, die-hard fan and I thought for sure that was the end of our beginning. He kept calling, however, and we quickly became inseparable.

We spent the last part of 2016 spending all the time together that we could and meeting one another's friends. Michael introduced me to his family the following January. That February we traveled to the Florida Keys to visit my cousin in the Coast Guard, Ryan (our officiant). We kayaked with iguanas, hung out on sand bars, and I said the "L" word (neither one of us can remember when he said it). Soon after, Michael took me to Havasu to show me where he used to live and to meet his sister Gina. Michael met more of my family in May of 2017 when I finished graduate school. That summer in June, I surprised him with a trip to visit his sister Katherine in Boston. We stayed on a sailboat in the Boston Harbor during the Tall Ships Regatta. We ate cannolis in Little Italy, made Michael cross scary high bridges on foot, and ate so much food. In August 2017, while Kayaking on Tempe Town Lake, we discussed moving in together and by September I moved into his apartment. It was a fairly easy blending of habits, styles, and lifestyles and Kevin Waffles was instantly at home. Everything just fell into place. In May of 2018 we visited Katherine again in Vancouver and hiked to the top of Squamish. In October 2018 Michael visited my Texas family and fit right in with the cows, beers, and barbeque. He even learned to two-step with me at my little sister Kayela's wedding. The best parts of the nearly four years has been the hiking and camping, going to games, shows, and festivals, floating the salt river, volunteering together, sharing time with friends and family, and road-tripping all over; Durango, CO; Tucson; Flagstaff; Las Cruces; NM, Cloudcroft, NM; Bisbee; Idyllwild, CA; El Paso, TX (where to next?)

In early 2019 Michael told me that he would ask me before year's end. While exciting, it made me anxious and admittedly eager. There were a number of times when I thought "this is it" and yet it wasn't. I had picked out a ring with a friend in our neighborhood and a few weeks later took Michael to show him and he admitted he hadn't picked one out yet. He loved it, and while he wanted to get me something a bit more traditional, he knew that what I had selected suited me. Michael's sister Katherine visited from Vancouver for his other's sister Gina's Baby Shower. The shower was an all-day event and Katherine and I were both exhausted the next day (read: hungover), but Michael insisted we go on a hike. He rushed me out of bed (he never rushes me), sped to the trailhead, and was nervous and quiet the whole drive. When we arrived at South Mountain to meet Katherine, the road to the trailhead was closed. He nearly panicked, this is when I became suspicious. He's far more laid back than I am so something was up. He demanded it had to be that trail, the first trail we ever hiked together, and we figured out a way to get there and began the hike. He was practically running, head down, and silent the whole way up. Katherine and I were dragging which is not the norm. Once we made it to the top, Katherine walked off and I asked Michael for almonds. He said no (rude), and then grabbed something else from his bag. He got down on one knee and all of my suspicions came true. He nervously stumbled over the words a bit, but he asked. I was in such a shock that I can't actually say what he said, but I cried and said "YES"! He put the ring on and we hugged and cried and laughed. Katherine was taking pictures from afar the whole time and it was amazing to have her there and to have that moment captured. The hike down was easier, and it is now my favorite hike that I have ever done.

Michael had planned to move to Colorado or Flagstaff before we met, and I had also planned to move to Colorado or Idaho. We knew we didn't want to live in Phoenix long-term even though we loved Arcadia. We had often talked about living in Bisbee as we loved it there and have spent many fun times in our relationship there, but it didn't seem practical. We looked at Las Cruces, New Mexico which had more professional opportunities and more practical housing options. We even almost moved to Destin, Florida because I received a job offer there. Among all of this speculating, we decided we no longer wanted to leave the state as Gina and Ryan just had moved to Phoenix and had Summer and we wanted to be in their lives more. Then Susie and Chad's house in Sierra Vista popped in our minds and after one discussion, without even seeing it, I was sold. We all were and so we made it happen. We love the proximity to the wilderness and our families, the bike paths, and this gorgeous, eclectic home. It is working out in our career paths as well as Michael continues to work from home, and I have taken on more of a leadership role in Southern Arizona.

Originally we planned to elope on the Big Island of Hawaii on April 10th, 2020 with just Michael and myself, and then be legally married upon return to Arizona. However, the COVID 19 Pandemic had other plans. We had to cancel everything and regroup. Then we planned to have a quick wedding in our backyard with just us, an officiant, and two other people, and share it virtually with our families and friends. However, our landlord had other plans and asked that we not potentially infect our backyard and put our neighbors at risk. It was a bit extreme, but we agreed. Then, by some act of divine intervention (i.e. Ralph), Michael became open to a small family wedding so we planned what would have been a lovely outdoor ceremony of 50 people in Bisbee. While our excitement was growing and growing, our hope was dwindling rapidly. Unfortunately, it appears that the pandemic is not dying down at the pace that we had anticipated. We don't want to wait to get married any longer and we simply can't risk our most vulnerable loved ones, nor ask our families to subject themselves to the risks of traveling from out of state. For this reason, we are now having a virtual wedding.