It all started when Joe posted a story about his dog, Willow, on Instagram and Maria slid up and slid into his DM’s. Shortly after, our first date was scheduled for the dog park and continued on to ice cream afterwards. Within the next few days, more dates occurred almost daily. We quickly grew inseparable and started spending all our time together. We lived less than a mile away from each other and it was peak Covid so we had a ton of time to get to know each other and let our love grow. After maybe a month of being together, Maria had to resign her lease and openly asked Joe if he would be interested in living together rather than resigning a full year and having to wait that much longer to take the next step. We both agreed that our futures would absolutely involve each other and 6 months later, Maria made the move into Joe’s apartment. After a year of living together, Joe popped the question while on a walk in Bidwell Park with the dog that started it all!