They met on Facebook Dating and somehow decided that going on a breakfast date the very next day was a good idea. Maria showed up straight from a pet-sitting weekend that involved ducks, dogs, cats, and even a snake — wearing truly terrible clothes and driving a car that smelled exactly like dog. Eric noticed immediately (of course he did), but instead of judging, he helped fix her car. He’s a mechanic, and apparently using your tools on the first date is a great way to make someone fall in love. When Eric walked in, Maria did the classic shy move and pushed her hair out of her face like she was in a movie, and that was pretty much it. From that first breakfast, they talked nonstop. Not normal first-date stuff either — real things, deep things, “wow we probably shouldn’t be saying this yet” things. A few weeks later, Maria left for Costa Rica, and even though they had barely known each other, they texted and talked constantly. She told the girls she was traveling with that she thought he might be the one. Six months later — before even getting engaged — they booked their wedding venue, because when something feels right, you don’t really question it. Meeting each other’s families felt easy and natural, and even though Eric was a little nervous about Maria’s two dogs and two cats moving into his life, he knew it was serious when he bought a dog bed for his house that first Christmas. For those of you that know Eric, you know how big of a deal that is. Fast forward to now, and somehow, they have four cats and two dogs, which feels exactly right. They lived an hour apart and drove back and forth constantly, until Maria finally brought all the animals over “just to visit” four months into dating… and nobody ever left. Eric also learned that being with Maria meant becoming a traveler. In just two years, they’ve already been to Iceland and Mexico, with Greece coming up next — proving that love can turn a non-traveler into an adventurer. It’s only been two years, but it feels like they’ve lived a whole lifetime together, and they wouldn’t change a single chaotic, animal-filled, tool-assisted moment of it.