What better time than Valentine’s Day to share our love story? After all, the longer we’ve been together, the longer the story gets, so if I don’t start writing soon, this project will become too large for me to take on! This story begins on August 29th, 2022, when we first met, and since our engagement story can be read here, I’ll end the story there.
How We Met
Kevin and I first met on August 29th, 2022—our first day of work together. He was leaving behind nearly a decade in the car sales industry, while I was stepping back into the workforce for the first time since becoming a mom almost two years prior. In fact, our first day of orientation came right after my daughter’s second birthday! We’d both received an email from a local running store over the summer saying that they were hiring, and since we both loved to run, we applied. Though we applied months apart, fate (or perhaps divine intervention) aligned things so that we started on the very same day.
Becoming Friends
It wasn’t exactly love at first sight, but neither of us can deny that we were immediately drawn to each other. Within just one day, we realized how much we had in common. We both loved to run, enjoyed reading, had young kids, shared similar taste in music, and bonded over our love for Harry Potter and the Office. The list of similarities between us seemed endless, and the more we talked, the more natural our connection felt.
Over the next several months, our friendship continued to grow. We took turns buying each other Starbucks and would regularly check in on how our kids were doing. We kept up with each other’s training and races, always texting each other good luck on race days. Upon learning that I’d never read The Lord of the Rings series, he, unbeknownst to me, thrifted a secondhand copy just for me and left them in my box at work. We also went to a lot of the same group runs, whether it was in Kevin’s neighborhood, Salem Lake, or even up and down Pilot Mountain in the freezing rain (now that was a crazy adventure!).
One moment that stands out is when Kevin learned that I was training for an ultramarathon around September of 2022. A seasoned roadrunner, he had a hard time wrapping his mind around the concept of trail running. When he found out how “slow” I ran, he said, “So what, does it look like this when you run?” and proceeded to imitate Michael Scott from Episode 1, Season 1 of the Office, sound effects and all. If you know, you know! We had only been friends for a few months, so I was genuinely insulted and said, “If you think trail running is so easy, you try it!” He ran Pilot Mountain 20k a few months later in February 2023 and got 7th place overall, but also face planted and was dripping in blood when he crossed the finish line. Needless to say, we both humbled each other!
Another special memory for both of us from during that time was the Mistletoe Race in December of 2022. We were both signed up for the half marathon, and since we lived less than ten minutes away from each other, decided to carpool. Once we got there, we headed over to a tent which our workplace had set up, since they were one of the sponsors of the race. There, one of our coworkers snapped a picture of the two of us to use in a social media post about the day, and it happened to be our first picture together. Once the gun went off, Kevin was gone, leaving me in the dust! I didn’t see him again until a turnaround point, where we passed each other and I yelled, “Go, Kevin!” Apparently someone near Kevin went, “Aww,” when I cheered him on, and he says that was one of the first times he thought, “Hmm… maybe there is something there…”. He ended up waiting for me at the finish line, which is the first time someone had done that for me (since I hadn’t participated in many races at this point), so it meant a lot to me. To make a good day even better, we discovered that we both loved Taco Bell on the way home, and enjoyed a post-race treat!
As difficulties arose in both of our personal lives, we realized that we could relate to each other more than we had previously thought. Over time, we grew to trust each other more and more, and we went from merely friendly coworkers to coworkers who were also friends outside of work.
The First Date
By the time Kevin asked me out on a date, we had known each other for nearly eight months, and been good friends for most of it. So when Kevin texted me, “Want to get a drink after I get off at 6:30 [tomorrow]?” a part of me was surprised, but a part of me wasn’t. I could tell by the instant butterflies I got upon receiving that text that at some point, I had started to develop feelings for my “just a friend.”
Even though I was excited that he had reached out, I still took some time to respond. Of course, by “some time” I just mean sixteen minutes, but Kevin would say that they were the longest sixteen minutes of his life! Jokes aside, I told him that I would love to hang out outside of work, and so we agreed to head downtown the upcoming weekend, April 22nd, to grab drinks.
It’s funny- the week leading up to our first date, and even the day of, I felt nervous. I didn’t know what to expect, what Kevin was thinking, or what would happen in the long run. But the second he picked me up, it all melted away. It felt like hanging out with my best friend.
And that’s what it felt like all night! We talked about everything, from politics to running to parenting to religion and more. Time just seemed to fly by, and before we knew it, we had been out for hours. We had sworn at the beginning of the night that we wouldn’t stay out too late, since we both had early morning long runs the next day (spoiler: we stayed out late).
Despite being late April, once the sun set it was a little chilly outside, and since I “forgot” to bring a jacket, Kevin put his arm around me as we walked back to the car. He drove me home, and snuck in our first kiss before the date came to an end. Neither of us had any idea what would happen next or what life had in store for us; all we knew is that our friendship had turned into something more, and we wanted to see where it would go.
The First Year & Beyond
After that first date on April 22nd, 2023, we dated almost exactly a year and a half before getting engaged (you can read more about that here), and man, did time fly! Before we had started dating, we had both independently signed up for the Pilot Mountain to Hanging Rock 50 Mile Race, so many of our “dates” over the summer consisted of long trail runs in the mountains. We ran at Pilot Mountain State Park, Grandfather Mountain State Park, Stone Mountain State Park, and so many other beautiful places. We both ran the Grand-further 25k that August, which allowed us to have our first weekend getaway as a couple.
It was during those hours and hours of running that we would daydream out loud about our future. We were both hopeful that we would successfully finish the 50 mile race, and wanted to train for even farther distances. I talked about my nearly lifelong dream of going to law school, while also lamenting about the many obstacles in my way that I wasn’t sure if I could overcome. Kevin could relate, and told me how he also wanted to go to grad school, but as in my situation, the path to get there seemed unclear.
Eventually, everything fell into place. Despite not knowing how things would work out, I signed up to take the LSAT regardless of whether law school would be in the cards for me. Kevin took the GMAT to prepare him for applying to grad school, even though he hadn’t made up his mind about whether or not he would apply. Kevin completed the 50 mile race — his first ultramarathon! — and I ran two more 50k trail races. I graduated college, finally, and not only applied to law school, but was accepted with a scholarship! We travelled to six different national parks, went on lots of adventures, and made so many amazing memories with our kids.
Slowly, over time and with lots of hard work, our future got brighter and brighter. Kevin and I both experienced first hand how much you can accomplish when you have someone who loves you in your corner, cheering you on no matter what. We truly bring out the best in each other and have accomplished WAY more together than we ever have apart, and are so excited for everything the future has in store for us!
Step by Step Parenting 