The very first time I met Stephen was one I'll always remember. I had such an intense visceral reaction when I met him that, at the time, I interpreted it as dislike. I vividly remember that he introduced himself as Ost, and I replied really out of character and rudely that I would only call him Stephen. He flustered me so much that I remember thinking if every guy was like that at U of A, I would transfer before the end of the semester. I think what's funniest about that was while I was, for some reason, so offended by his existence, he forgot who I was almost instantly.

Over the next few weeks we kept going to the same events and I observed him being…well, Stephen: someone who feels no qualms about being himself, is impervious to peer pressure, and who is so unlike any other person in the world. On the surface I felt like we were opposites, but deep down it felt like we were cut from the same cloth. He was so easy to be with and talk to, and once when he pulled his hair back (which was longer in college believe it or not) and I actually got to see his eyes, I think it was game over for me. But the moment I truly acknowledged how much I liked him was during a group dinner where he was showing some girls a bunch of photos of his dog Trae. I thought it was such a cliche guy move and was annoyed, but an hour later he was still showing photos of Trae, and was just as excited about each one. The other girls were all obviously bored, basically ignoring him at this point, and he kept going. The whole situation made my heart so warm, and I knew I was toast. 😶

So now here I was, annoyed with myself for falling in love with basically the first guy I met at U of A, especially because he had a girlfriend and I had really planned on dating around. I tried really hard to ignore it, but I kept finding myself gravitating toward him, wanting to hang out with him, and “accidentally” running into him. By December we were close friends, and I figured that I could use my brain to really catch his eye. Stephen had gotten a logic game from the 60’s called Twixt and not a single person could beat him, so I made a plan. I asked my dad to get it on Ebay for Christmas, and practiced it all winter break. And it worked! The week of the new semester I found out he was single, and challenged him to a game during a party. I won (thankfully) and I felt something in the air shift.

The first time we hung out alone, we watched Avatar at his house. I remember thinking the whole walk there how much I really needed Trae to like me. As we all know, he’s a very opinionated dog, and I knew his approval was important to Stephen. When Stephen greeted me at the gate, for some crazy reason, Trae was ecstatic to see me. He didn’t bark a single time, and was running and jumping up and down. I knew right then this was going to work out. By February we were dating, and by March I told him I loved him. Marrying the person I fell in love with at 18 was not what I planned (and I certainly tried fighting it a couple times), but life has a way of ignoring your plans and steering your in the right direction. Getting to spend my 20’s with him has been the greatest gift from the universe, and I cannot imagine my life without him. Stephen is my summer, he makes me laugh, reminds me to relax, and inspires me to be my true self every day. I am so excited to start this next chapter of our life together. 🥰

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Honestly, the love story I remember is a bit different but that doesn’t mean mine’s right. I admit that I have a lack of memory on how we met so I default to Erika’s story. I actually really love listening to her share how we met since she could make up anything and I’d believe it. I was in another relationship at that time so Erika wasn’t the top of mind for me 😳 however, she’s the world to me now! 😊

The way I think of Erika is she entered my life, we fell in love and everything before became a blur. I do have a few amazing memories though that I’ll share.

It all started for me sometime during the Fall 2011 semester while sitting outside our frat house in the courtyard during a party when I looked over to my right and asked Erika, “do you believe in aliens?” We went on for an hour theorizing their existence and I realized that Erika was both cute and intelligent. At the time though, since I was in another relationship, I didn’t think of Erika as anything more than a good friend.

January 2012 came around right after winter break and Erika challenged me to a Twixt match. Twixt was my favorite game and no one at U of A had ever beaten me, so I was very surprised she wanted to play. It’s a pretty rare two-player strategy board game from the 1960s and required thinking several moves ahead. We sat down and Erika made the first move as she needed every advantage she could get. About halfway into the game, I was destroying her. It was kind of funny. I offered Erika the ability to switch sides with me and play the second half with my advantage and I would play as her. I liked doing that because it essentially gave me a chance to play myself. Well in this case Erika finished up winning since I gave her such in incredible advantage. This is when something clicked and I really began my interest in dating Erika. She beat me at Twixt.

Over the next month, Erika figured out that I hot tubbed everyday and the easiest way to spend time with me was to join. When I say hot tubbed everyday, I’m not exaggerating whatsoever. I probably averaged 10 hot tub sessions a week as it gave me time to really ponder and strategize. Anyway, Erika would join me quite often which gave us time to really talk and get to know one another. What I didn’t realize though was that she was prioritizing hot tub time over homework and that her grades took a hit, which I never would have approved!

I began to really trust Erika and I wanted to take things to the next level. One night we were hanging out in a friend’s room at the frat house and I asked her to step outside with me knowing I was no longer in another relationship. We stood on the second floor hallway overlooking the same courtyard where we spoke about aliens and I asked, “can I trust you?” She said “yes”. I went on to tell her about this cool new startup I was building called Ufree. She was actually the first girl I ever spoke with about it, other than family, and she was so interested, providing me with some valuable feedback. This was back when people overly kept their ideas a secret so it meant a lot that I was sharing Ufree with her.

The next thing I remember was our first date. It was a very romantic and fun night at Oregano’s 🤭 We sat at a two person table and I ordered bbq wings with a side of medium buffalo sauce. I don’t recall what Erika ordered although my best guess is a chicken salad. While I was getting messy, I shared with the waitress that it was Erika’s birthday (not true) so we could enjoy a free pizookie. This was Erika’s first look at my ordering techniques that she would one day become okay with. It was a wonderful night though!

Then it was already Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2012 and I had to really impress. I was pretty nervous that day as I set up a date night in my apartment for us. I knew Erika loved lemon flavoring which inspired my meal selections. When Erika walked in, she could smell the amazing lemon pancakes and lemon chicken I prepared for her. She also noticed a fraternity pledge playing beautiful piano music for us all night. When the time was right, I popped the question, “Erika, will you be my girlfriend?”. She was so excited, we kissed and celebrated by making deep fried Oreos together. It was an incredible college meal and experience I’ll never forget. Now you can see why Erika often thinks I’m a little ridiculous.

We then spent the next 11 years together experiencing all that life has to offer. We moved in quickly after college, traveled the world on many vacations, raised a puppy named Trae, built startups, celebrated with friends and family, experienced holidays and so much more. Erika is the sweetest, kindest and most caring person I know, putting everyone else before herself (a little too much). I love her deeply and I’m so excited to get to marry Erika and spend the rest of our lives together 🥰

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