Get ready for a ninja wedding!

They say that people have a few weeks of absolute availability when dating. If you don’t meet “your person” during this short time period, you may not end up together. I had just graduated college & completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training, moved to the big city and started a new job, all within a few short months. Everything in my life was changing, so I decided it was also the perfect time to add in another variable and start dating. I didn’t expect to find my husband anytime soon, but just wanted to find a fun guy to explore the city with. I decided to check out the app Ok Cupid. I’d heard it was a little classier than Tinder, so I filled out a profile, describing myself as vegan and intimidating guys with details like, “In my past life I was a princess, in my future life I may be a hipster of sorts.” I also warned guys that they should not message me if: “their cat is in their profile picture.” I spent hours laying in bed at night, answering questions about myself, only talking to guys that were an 80% match or more. A guy named @benji_ sent me a message on July 9th at 10:10pm and said something charming like “I’m concerned that I can’t keep up with a hipster princess yogi. Should I be concerned?” What I didn’t tell him then was, “Honestly, probably, yes.” So we decided to meet up right away, even though his profile picture was him with his cat. Our first date was at Caribou Coffee in Uptown (even though neither of us drink coffee). In an effort to act cool and look normal, I ordered a chai tea latte, but soon realized that my date didn’t order anything! I thought that was uncool and not normal for a first date at a coffee shop. We talked about regular stuff (volleyball, yoga, volleyball) and then headed to Corepower Yoga for a sweaty yoga class. It wasn’t just any yoga class though, it was an advanced inversions workshop. Although it was Ben’s first ever yoga class, he impressed me with his strength and effort (and 6 pack… who are we kidding?).

Our second date was at Ecopolitan (a raw vegan restaurant in Uptown that has since gone out of business… RIP Ecopolitan). We shared a green juice and raw vegan pizza (trust me… it’s good). After that date we kissed and... I got butterflies! Since then we’ve bonded over our mutual love of fitness and food allergies (If you’re thinking to yourself, but you’re not vegan, Addie… my vegan period only lasted 2 weeks). I grew to tolerate his cat. And he tries his best to keep up with my yogi princess hipster tendencies (but honestly I think he’s more hipster than me). I never imagined I’d meet my person that summer and I couldn’t have predicted he’d be a volleyball player and cat owner. But now I can’t imagine my life partner being anyone else. Ben keeps me grounded. I encourage him to reach beyond his comfort zone. I convinced him to travel to Bali, Indonesia and we recently bought a house together! I love him so much and can’t wait to tie the knot! Xoxo

I saw a cute girl on OkCupid who talked about “Paleo” recipes in her profile. I had eaten that way(Gluten-free, dairy-free) for years and thought it would be good common ground. We messaged back and forth, had good banter, and quickly agreed to meet up for a lunch date. Fast-forward a couple days before the date and I receive this message: “I forgot I had a Yoga Workshop scheduled for when we agreed to meet up…….you can come along I guess, if you want. Otherwise we’ll have to reschedule for another time.” I had never gone to a yoga class, but decided that even if I went and made a complete fool of myself, it would make for a pretty funny story. And best case I do not look like a fool and slightly impress this yoga babe. Before yoga, we meet at a nearby coffee shop; I don’t really drink coffee. I find out later she doesn’t really either but felt obligated to do so then and considered it weird that I didn’t. She can hold a conversation and has thoughtful questions of her own. I like this. We walk to yoga and get started. I slink into the packed room, trailing after her and I’m broadsided by a wave of aggressively-hot 100+ degree air. Sweat is pouring almost immediately and the teacher says we’ll just “Go into a little Vinyasa flow to warm up.” Thoughts quickly tumble through my head: “What is vinyasa? What is a ‘flow’? I don’t need to warm up, it’s like 200 degrees in here; Just focus on Addie and do your best to mimic her and pretend to know what the hell is going on.” Thirty minutes into the workshop I am wringing sweat from my shirt and sheepishly whisper to Addie if it’s acceptable to take my shirt off for the remainder of our time in this heated room. (She informs me months later that this greatly works to my advantage lol.) I stumble my way through yoga, she is incredibly good and pretends not to notice my floundering and agrees to meet up for a second date.

Date #2 turns into Date #3 and 4 and 5 and things get “Facebook Official”. Weeks turn into months and months turn into years; things get serious. We move in together. Buy a house together. She loves me so much that she puts up with my crazy cat, quirks, and obsessions. It’s strange to look back and imagine us meeting almost 4 years ago as complete strangers. She is the love of my life and I can’t imagine making this journey without her by my side. I love you Addie.