Kelsey & Matt

It was Labor Day weekend of 2012, after we had graduated from college. My roommate and I were throwing a multiple-day party with our friends in Cincinnati. I hadn't met Kelsey yet—my roommate invited her—and she didn't show up until late the second day. I only got to talk to her briefly because she was trying to catch up with friends from undergrad. I don't think she even remembered meeting me that day, but I remembered her. I started making a point to talk to her when our friend groups would meet up. We'd cross paths at the pub down the street, or at trivia nights, or at other friends' houses. I tried to play it cool to get her phone number by coming up with the brilliant idea that we should start a bowling team. Disclaimer: I'm a terrible bowler. It took her a while to realize I was making a point to see her at these events, but it took me even longer to ask her out on a date. It wasn't until a couple months later, at a friend's holiday party, that I finally worked up the courage to ask her to get dinner. The night of our date, I sat in my car and played blink-182's "First Date" three times before going to pick her up. I thought it would make me less nervous. It didn't. I found out later she was nervous too, but she definitely hid it much better than I did. She's always had a game face. Neither of us ate our family-sized meals from Buca di Beppo, but we talked the entire time and were both sure we would be doing this again. A little over five years later, Kelsey and I left Cincinnati to start the next chapter of our lives together in New Mexico. We got engaged on November 4th, 2017 and can't wait to begin yet another chapter in May!