Molly.
I knew I found my life partner early-on in dating Jeff, especially on the day of my big apartment move. At that time, we weren’t together and he wasn’t obliged to help me in any way - moving wasn’t even a ‘fun’ date idea I pitched - however, Jeff came over to paint walls and move furniture into the wee hours of the night. This was somewhat special to me because I never ask for help, but I didn’t have to with Jeff cause he was happy about doing the most mundane stuff with me. The best part of the evening was when I thought I locked my keys in my car and, after a partial meltdown plus Jeff casually trying to break into my car, I later realized that I packed them into a box! I called him the next day and asked him to be my boyfriend. It was both a humbling and hilarious moment and I’m surprised he didn’t run a mile after that! Not my finest moment.
Jeffrey.
On one of our first vacations together we travelled to San Francisco, with a side trip to the Napa Valley. San Francisco was surprisingly colder and windier than expected, so it wasn’t quite the beach day vacation we were anticipating, however we were looking forward to the scenic drive to the Napa Valley. Molly had booked an Airbnb, with a hot tub and pool, so we were ready to kick our feet up and relax! Unfortunately, that didn’t happen because a 1-hour drive turned into a 5-hour drive when we got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic! I was absolutely raging. The only thing that kept me sane was my lovely girlfriend in the passenger seat - it was as if she knew the lyrics to every song on the radio! She was singing and dancing, doing everything in her power to keep us entertained. It was nearly midnight by the time we arrived. I laughed so much that day my abs hurt.
We met in the summer of 2022.
They say opposites attract and we guess that’s true. When we first met, we had initial attraction but didn’t seem to have much in common, at least not the obvious, coming from completely different lifestyles and countries. However, underneath the veil of performative date interviews, we began to realize just how much our values aligned in every way. And then grew curiosity, comfort and connection…
We talked casually on a dating app for a few weeks before we could get date in the diary. Then, on our first date we met a ramen place for dinner and Jeff quietly watched me throw soup base all over my face and dress because I was having to do all the talking. He was shy at first and I did not understand the concept of not story telling.
Because the date was not shy of awkward, I dismissed the idea of second in mind, but we kept having such great conversations over text, so I got the sense he had a lot more to say. We met at a brewery for the next date, it was like meeting a different version of Jeff. I realized then that I had likely terrified him on the first date. He was chatty, flirty and friendly - a spark was lit.
Fast forward to more dates and talking for hours at bedtime, it became apparent that we were both invested. There was no second guessing about seeing each other next and we were planning dates to musicals, bucket list restaurants and trips away. Jeff told me he loved me on our first trip to Whistler, although I perhaps forced him to say it out loud! I said it back, of course.
A year later, after more adventures together to Seattle and San Francisco, we had a second moving day together - this time it was to live together. Jeff acquired two cat babies, Fergus and Thea!
Some months later, to escape the winter we booked a trip to Riviera Maya in Mexico. We spent days relaxing by the pool and enjoying a different dinner date every night. Some friends suspected Jeff was going to propose on our trip, which I thought was funny and highly unlikely. It had reached the last night of our vacation, Jeff wanted to take a long walk back to our hotel after dinner. In a moment under the moonlight, when I finally paused to take in the view, Jeff proposed.
This was everything I ever wanted, everything we had spoke about from the early days of being together, knowing our relationship was something special and to be taken seriously. We returned home in engagement bliss and got to planning our wedding, which brings us here.