2020 I joined Fred Meyer's and for some reason chose to work in the home department. On day one this cute girl walks up to me and tells me to go home because there was nothing to do, so what do I do? I stand there awkwardly as she talks to her friends laughing. I keep trying to talk to her through the coming days and weeks. It's clear I have a crush on Hope, who was my boss, but she didn't seem interested. Later down the road, I'm her boss and we work together almost every night, I'm trying to find a way for us to hang out but she keeps giving my excuses "You're my boss", "I don't date friends", "we work together", and "I'm going back to school". I don't take no for answer and keep trying; we start going for drives at talking late into the night and I'm falling more and more for this girl. Finally, a few days before New Year's Eve, she ask me to go to a party with her. I'm so nervous but so excited. We go to the party and have a good time. I chicken out and don't kiss her, what was I thinking?! The second date we go explore some parks and antique shops in Portland. I take her above the Japanese gardens and find a great spot to ask her to be my girlfriend but my blood sugar is getting low so my mind is not there and I fail again. At the end of the night I take her home and in the car, in front of her parent's house, I ask her out and she says yes. Since then it has been the best time of my life through, from small dates to the parks, to sitting in the car before one of us goes to work, to sitting standard on side of the Nevada highway, or being over 800 miles away from each other I would not change a minute of it. I knew from day one I was going to marry this beautiful, cute, loving, supportive, smart, and caring girl. I can't wait to call her my wife and keep these crazy adventures going.

What do you do when your new employee starts following you around like a lost puppy? Sure, he's cute, and fun to hang out with; but he is also intruding on gossiping and hanging out with one of my best friends -Alannah- and won't leave! This was mostly annoying because a fair amount of those gossip sessions were about this new guy with pretty blue eyes and dimples; did you know he used to be a firefighter?? Eventually, we got to know each other better, and I didn't mind that this sweet, funny, work hard - play hard guy was there. Alannah left, I was training him to be my boss, and I started to fall for him (and it was very obvious that he was falling too), but what could I do? Every piece of dating advice I'd ever gotten was "don't date at work, long distance doesn't work, dating friends is a bad idea..." luckily, I was far enough gone that that advice didn't stick for long. Fast forward to New Year's Eve 2020. I asked him to go to a small get-together of just a few friends after work; we had a good time (no, he didn't kiss me), then went for a drive, ending up at the Ridgefield Marina eating gluten-free vegan cake and talking the night away. 12 days later, I knew he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend, and I knew I was going to say yes. We went to several parks with gorgeous views at all of them, and perfect moments came and went. I would stall at every overlook and stay quiet, letting him ask, but he chickened out at every. single. one! We finally ended the night in front of my house, and again I stalled for a good 2 minutes, pretending to gather my stuff waiting for him to ask, but again - he didn't. I started to get out of the car and thank him for a lovely day, and finally, he got the guts to ask. Many adventures later, our homes 800 miles apart, and one year and 3 days after our first date, he planned a photo shoot for our one-year anniversary: surprise, it's a proposal (pictures in the gallery if you want to take a peek)! It wasn't easy doing long distance for a year so early in our relationship, but I'm glad we did. We were able to grow as a couple and as individuals in ways that would not be possible seeing each other every day. Thank you to all of my friends and family who helped make this wedding a reality, from pushing me to talk to the cute guy at work, to helping plan this wedding. And thank you to Justin for sticking with such an obstinant nutcase like me in such a wonderful, loving, and supportive way. <3