Disclosure: You may think you are reading the script to a Hallmark movie, but buckle up, this is a true story. Justin and I first met when we first moved into the same apartment complex in Charlotte, NC. As many of you know, I moved to Charlotte in the middle of the pandemic and immediately adopted my best friend and number one girl, Riley. It was the end of June 2020 and Riley, being only 4 months old, was still waking me up at the crack of dawn to go outside. It was approximately 5:30 AM, I was dressed in my most attractive old, ratty t-shirt and pj shorts, when we met Justin and Dakota at our grass patch in the parking lot. My first thought was “Wow he is so cute!”. My second thought was “Damn he is definitely married.” — I mean what Veteran, Marine Corps Dog Handler owns a Pomsky?… right, absolutely none. Turns out he was not married and our dogs quickly became best friends after frequent visits to the dog park. Soon after that, I completely fell in love with both Justin and Dakota, but I was almost immediately friend zoned (ouch). After a year and a half of the greatest friendship, many mixed signals, and unrequited love; I decided it was time to move on. I started seeing someone but that didn’t stop me from spending time with Justin. Fast forward to New Years Eve 2022, it was time that the guy I was seeing, finally meet my best friend. Spoiler alert - it did NOT go well. Sparing you some really juicy details, it was a dramatically eventful night that ended my relationship. I was so distraught — not that my relationship was definitely over, but that I had come to the realization that we were both going to ruin our chances at a successful relationship with other people if we just continued the kind of friendship we had and ignoring the elephant in the room. A week later, I wrote Justin a 4 page letter and left it in his front door. Again sparing you many juicy details essentially Justin tried to avoid the letter and nothing had changed. We got into a huge fight and I ended up blocking his phone number and all of his social media accounts. HOWEVER, Riley had no problem with him so I (strategically left him unblocked on her account). Who am I to tell her who she can love or hate?! I hadn’t spoken to him in a few weeks so I posted a photo on Riley’s account to see if he would notice, and a few short hours later, Riley had a message from Justin asking for her mom to forgive him and to please talk to him. Giving him another shot, I called him and told him to talk — naturally, he said all of the wrong things so I told him I would talk to him the following day, knowing full well that I was going to have to date him. The next day I told him I wanted to go on a date and he responded “That is the best thing I have heard all week”. He picked me up like a true gentleman, took me ice skating at the Whitewater Center and to dinner at Harry’s Grille & Tavern in Ayrsley. He dropped me off and kissed me at my door. I said it was weird - and the rest is history! To date, he is still my best friend, the love of my life, and the easiest yes. Justin - I love you endlessly and I cannot wait to marry you. I hope you enjoyed our love story and we cannot wait to celebrate with you!