We met in June 2018. Kelsey had just graduated from APU and Kerri was going into her Junior year at VWU and we were both working at Zephyr Point for the summer. We met during Orientation week where there are lots of trainings and forced fun activities. We became friends instantly. We were best friends that summer, spending every second we could hanging out, going on hikes, road trips, and staying up late playing Nertz or any creative activities we could come up with. Neither of us were anywhere close to thinking we were anything but friends that summer, but we both loved the friendship we had.

After our first summer at camp we kept in touch regularly, we called and texted often. We both decided to return to camp again the next summer. We were both coordinators that summer and shared a room with Kerri's sister, Taylor. It was another amazing summer with lots of exploring and fun. Things got confusing that summer and both of us started to feel like we may be more than just friends. But don't get too excited, we didn't talk about this or make it simple. You know how it goes... religious trauma, internalized homophobia etc. etc.

We both decided to stick around for the Zephyr Point internship program, allowing us the opportunity to live in Tahoe, explore the camp world and keep being best friends ;). We spent that year with a lot of confusion and awkward and painful conversations. We talked about our feelings and spent a solid 4 months trying to not be together due to fear and confusions. We spent those months feeling miserable, hurt, and like we were not doing something right. We knew we wanted to be together but the fear of the judgement and change we would experience kept us from being true to who we were. We prayed, studied, talked and kept getting the sense that we were supposed to be together and so in January 2020 we decided to give it the official try.... yes you didn't hear a damn thing about it for another 5-12 months. More to come.

We spent the next year or so feeling extremely happy to be together and confident in who we were together but we also had a weight of needing to tell the world about our love (so dramatic). Through lots of tears and also excited and anxious nerves we spent a lot of time telling friends and family about our love for each other. It was not easy or fun but we also opened ourselves up to being loved more fully than we had ever been before and for that we are grateful and extremely blessed.

After we came out to all the people we began to feel extra confident in our relationship and the excitement and joy about it did not fade. We have chosen to continue to move forward together with lots of communication, consistent exercise and activities, and well balanced house work (one is the chef and one is the maid - guess who's who) all marks of important aspects of our relationship. We have loved living in Tahoe with the opportunity to continue working at Zephyr Point, explore the Sierra Nevadas and enjoy the company and community we have here. We can't wait for our wedding day to celebrate fully with those who choose to support us in a place that is so important to us.