IN JANUARY 2020…
Vincent and Kalyn matched on Hinge. If he’s being honest he “swiped right” because she was cute, while she remembers seeing a photo of him with mutual friends and figuring he probably wasn't a serial killer. On their first date at Vinyl Coffee in San Francisco, despite Kalyn’s hopes that Vincent’s pony-tailed photos were a thing of the past, the shock of his long hair was quickly outshined by their witty banter about sports and art.
The first date led to the second,
and then the third, and by March we were feeling comfortable enough to adventure on our first double date to Kalyn's favorite Napa winery, Paraduxx. We were wrapping up the day when our server came over and said "you're our last customers, we have to shut down now." It was March 15, 2020 and that’s how our quarantine began.
If you want lockdown stories, feel free to buy our old roommates Davis and Hilary a drink, they have plenty to tell.
We are thankful they both still love us after that much quality quarantine time. Our next big test was a road trip to San Diego to meet Kalyn’s parents. We quickly discovered how much fun we have together on road trips and how a 30 minute podcast, continually disrupted by conversation and hard-nosed debates, can turn into a 3 hour ordeal. We were both pleasantly surprised the other could keep up. Next came our most ambitious COVID-safe adventure: a 5 state road trip to see Proxy Falls in Oregon, raft down Salmon River in Idaho, hike the Tetons in Wyoming, and reunite with friends in Salt Lake City before jetting home. Not long after we said we loved each other and knew we were in this ♡♡♡.
The end of 2021 began a series of heartbreaking losses.
We are thankful for this thoughtful, loyal community who cheered us on and challenged us in that first year to have bold conversations and dig deep. Your prayers during our toughest losses and hugs after the mundane work weeks restored us. After lots of long conversations we prepared in early 2022 for our next wild adventure, the arrival of Buckley!
We share the origin of Buckley
because at this moment, we both agree he is the best decision we ever made. After sitting on a waiting list for thirteen long months, in March 2022 we got the call that a black Great Pyrenees boy was born on a farm outside Asheville, North Carolina and we booked a flight. The first lesson we learned on this adventure was that we would never fly Frontier again. The next lesson we learned was how to make mistakes together and help each other laugh about it afterward. There were a lot of puppy accidents on the drive from Asheville to San Francisco. We hope to be parents one day and bring a child home to meet this ball of fluff. For now, he completes our family and joins our beach adventures and road trips.
On February 26, 2023…
Buckley was in the car with us as we headed towards Santa Cruz in the pouring rain and Vincent silently stressed about his surprise beach proposal. Vincent pulled over at a random small road and convinced Kalyn to brave the downpour (if you know Kalyn, she’s up for anything) to let Buckley do his business. Laughing our way down to the beach, Vincent slyly hooked the ring box to Buckley’s collar. He proposed, I said YES! We thankfully have the whole whirlwind event documented by amazing photographer friends. When we made it back towards Half Moon Bay to dry ourselves off at our friends’ Zack & Karli's house, I knew immediately something was different when the floor was spotless and monster truck-free. I turned the corner to see so many dear friends there to celebrate with us and was surprised most of all when I spotted my parents. Vincent had secretly flown down to San Diego a month before to have lunch with them, ask their blessing and prepare them for this day.
