It was late 2018- and Ilana and her family had just moved to Arizona from Buffalo Grove, IL. Unfortunately for Ilana- she didn't know a soul in the state! To make things worse- her family had moved into a Retirement Community called Trilogy at Vistancia all the way in Peoria, AZ- where as you can imagine- there weren't too many people her age that she could socialize with! She was in a tough spot! Determined to meet people her age- Ilana had found a few Jewish Facebook groups online- and was added to this group chat of young Jewish ladies in the Phoenix Metro Area called the "Desert Divas". It was through this group that Ilana learned about an event that was taking place at Moishe House in Scottsdale! She reached out to the Divas to see who else was going- took a deep breath- got a surge of confidence- and headed over to the event! Lance- the hero of the story- lived in that Scottsdale Moishe House at the time- but wasn't assigned to cover this particular event! As he came home from work and entered the event as it was already going- he looked around and saw the usual attendees- "same old, same old" he said. Then- out of the corner of his eye- he saw a new girl that he hadn't seen at any events before! "Woah who is that- she's cute" he said to himself. He looked a bit closer and saw her talking to a guy- where Ilana had a "save me- this boy is making me uncomfortable" look on her face. Ever the hero- Lance went to his room- quickly tossed down his work bag- and immediately came out to see if he could save the damsel in distress! He walked over- acting like he knew her- and said "Hey there so good to see you again- let me take you on a tour of the house!" Going along with it- Ilana followed him out of the area- thanked him- and they finally made formal introductions! They talked for a bit- and Lance was immediately impressed by and attracted to her beauty, intelligence, ambitions, sarcasm, and sense of humor! However- there was one small hiccup! Ilana told Lance that she was already seeing someone! Despite that significant road block- Lance got Ilana's number- and texted her shortly thereafter saying he'd love to introduce her to his friend group- and bring her out to Old Town Scottsdale with all of them some time! Despite the kind offer- Ilana "Ghosted" Lance and left him on read! The nerve! All was quiet between Ilana and Lance and the story seemed to be over.... However- Lance didn't quite want to give up on this girl! About a month or so later- knowing that Ilana loved dogs from their initial conversation- Lance strategically posted a video of adorable puppies on his story- hoping to get a response! The Hail Mary worked! Ilana- being understandably unable to resist the cuteness of puppies- and having ended things with her previous significant other- reached out to Lance- and FINALLY showed her interest by replying she would love to go out and meet my friend group. The rest- as they say- is history! Persistence, Patience, and Puppies- got him the girl!