Adam and I first met on the dating app, Bumble, in June of 2021. The first thing I ever messaged him was “Cute!” because I thought he was cute! We chatted for a couple of days before deciding to meet in person for drinks at Rosedale, a bar in Over the Rhine. We ended up hanging out, just talking and laughing for hours. I remember it feeling like we had known each other forever and not like it was the first time we met. We went on our first “official” date at Dee Felice in Covington a couple of days later.

After a few weeks of hanging out and getting to know each other, I was quite optimistic about where things were going. Little did I know Adam was in the process of interviewing for a job in Dayton, Ohio. Once being offered the position, he told me that he was moving but wanted to continue dating. I wasn’t super pleased with this development (I had never even been to Dayton?) but I liked him enough that I was willing to give the “long” distance thing a try. We became officially boyfriend and girlfriend in August, a week before Adam moved.

Over the next year, while Adam slept on his brother’s couch in a one-bedroom apartment in Dayton so he could save to buy a house, we saw each other every weekend and occasionally met up during the week halfway between our cities to get dinner, see a movie, or drive around and look at Christmas lights. We took this time to really get to know each other and build a strong foundation for the relationship we have now.

In September of 2022 the lease for my tiny, but perfect for me, studio apartment was up, and decisions had to be made. Since Adam worked full time in the office, and I at the time was working fully from home, it only made sense that I moved up to Dayton. By that time, Adam’s brother had bought a house and moved out of the apartment, and Adam took over the lease. I packed up all my knick-knacks, pretty things, and Suki the cat and moved into what can only be described as a “boy apartment,” and the house hunt began. Together we toured 23 houses in the Dayton area before finding the perfect one, where we would start our lives together.

Fast forward to 2025, Adam and I have been living in Dayton for 3 years. We’ve adopted a kitty sister for Suki, Sylvia, painted as many rooms in our house as Adam would allow, done countless DIY projects together (mostly all successful), and spent lots of time in the car going back and forth to and from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky to spend time with friends and family. But in my opinion, the most important thing of our time together since 2021 is that there has not been a single day that has gone by that we haven’t made each other laugh. From the mundane everyday adult tasks, to the adventures and hardships life has thrown at us, having each other has been a bright light through it all. Together we have total freedom to be silly, outrageous, and our true selves, and it is one of the greatest things I have ever experienced. So, after all of that, we decided it was time to make this whole spending the rest of our lives together thing official.

In November, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, I had run out to Kroger to pick up my usual 8 pounds of green beans for Thursday and returned home surprisingly in a good mood after just enduring the grocery store the week of the biggest food holiday. When walking from the garage to the back door of our house, I saw through the window an abundance of flowers on the kitchen table and thought to myself “that’s a lot of flowers, like an engagement amount of flowers, but it’s a Monday? And I’m a mess!” By the time I had got into the house, greeted the cats, and Adam, with a classic “Honey, I’m home!” the engagement thought had actually slipped my mind. That was until I set the groceries down on the counter, turned around, and Adam was down on one knee! I squealed, and laughed, and didn’t say anything at all, until I realized he was still on one knee waiting for an answer. I, obviously, said yes! It was the perfect engagement, just us in the house we made a home together.

Adam and I are so excited to get this party started and celebrate with our closest friends and family, who have all been a part of our love story!