In the early summer of 2024, Ryan and Destiny met the modern way: on Hinge. Destiny was living in Hollywood and working in Santa Monica, while Ryan was down in his hometown in Orange County. Somewhere between the FaceTime calls, endless Snapchats, and “just one more conversation before bed,” something started to click. Then came their first date — which, honestly, felt more like the beginning of a movie than a normal Tuesday. Ryan drove all the way from San Diego to pick Destiny up from work, arriving with a bouquet of flowers, some very questionable loafers he had bought that day, and the biggest grin on his face. Destiny had spent the entire day excited and anxious to finally meet him, hoping he was just as funny and sweet in person as he was over the phone. Spoiler alert: he was. The two spent the day driving around in Ryan’s black Mazda — if you know, you know — talking nonstop, laughing over absolutely nothing, and getting surprisingly comfortable with each other almost immediately. Eventually, they made their way back to Hollywood for ramen, where they somehow managed to discuss life goals, compatibility, and probably a few completely ridiculous topics in between. But the best part of the night was still waiting for them. As they walked back to Ryan’s car so he could make the long drive home before work the next morning, they noticed someone carrying an Aldo shoe box. Not just an Aldo shoe box — Ryan’s Aldo shoe box, complete with the loafers he had proudly worn earlier that day. His car had been broken into. Without missing a beat, Destiny immediately took off chasing the homeless man down a stairwell while Ryan stood there for half a second in disbelief before fully locking in and sprinting after her. Somehow, in the chaos of their very first date, they recovered most of Ryan’s belongings — minus a Bluetooth speaker and maybe a charging cord. And somewhere between the adrenaline, laughter, and absolute absurdity of the situation, something shifted. Ryan looked at Destiny and said, “Someday I’m gonna marry you.” And Destiny, completely unfazed after literally chasing down a thief on date one, simply said, “Okay.” From there, life together happened fast — but in the best way. There were tattoos, ear piercings, camping trips in the middle of the desert only weeks after meeting, meeting each other’s families on Father’s Day, and countless little adventures in between. Somewhere along the way, they realized they had become each other’s favorite person to do life with — whether that meant big adventures or just late-night drives and laughing until they cried. Some people might say their relationship moved quickly, but to Ryan and Destiny, it always felt like God had already written their story long before they met. They just happened to find each other exactly when they were supposed to. Now, they are so excited to step into this next chapter together and feel endlessly grateful that God placed them in each other’s lives — building a relationship filled with love, faith, laughter, spontaneity, and probably at least a little bit of chaos.