We met on Tinder and both felt a spark straight away. At the time, Kees lived on Capitol Hill and we spent a lot of time out on the hill at bars and shows, but also a lot of time staying in and saving money with frozen pizza and a movie.

Around this time, Manila was working graveyard shift at the hospital, and Kees worked nights at Microsoft. This meant we were lucky enough to get a lot of hikes in on deserted weekday trails!

Once we knew we were a fit, we started to travel together. We took a trip to Prague and Paris to see Europe together. Prague was easily the favorite. We hit Mexico pretty hard, with trips to Mexico City for the food, Tulum for the ruins and cenotes, and Puerto Vallarta just to chill.

We soon decided to move in together and rented our first place: a small two bedroom apartment.

Shortly after we moved in together, we got our pride and joy: our boy Milo. A couple days after we took him home we took him on a road-trip down the Pacific Coast highway. He was a trooper through the whole thing and he’s still our mutual best friend.

It was in our little apartment we started the tradition of cheeseburger day: on the anniversary of the day we got Milo we give him a whole cheeseburger. He still hasn’t gotten used to it and usually manages the whole thing in two bites.

We were planning a summer trip to Portugal when COVID hit. Manila worked at the hospital with critical COVID patients during the crisis and Kees worked remotely while the world changed.

Our niece Vernen was born in the thick of it, and we got to meet her through the back porch door. Visits to Vernen, Annemieke, and Mark (separated by a door) became a weekly tradition until things were safe enough to meet everyone in person. We got through the ups and downs together.

We bought a house together and started the renovations with the help of countless family and friends—more help than we could have imagined! We got engaged, and we’re finally able to celebrate our wedding in style. We can’t wait to see you all there!