For as long as we can rememeber we have had mutual friends and constantly heard each others names. We think we met at the Beer Hunter when we were about 23. Around Christmas time 2012, a mutual friend had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. Patrice had bartended that night and arrived late. Scott was one of the few people left at the party and he was the only one sober. They got to talking about why neither was drinking and Patrice said she was going to the Christmas service at church the next morning. It happened to also be Scott’s church. They exchanged numbers and went together the next morning. Patrice was definitley intrested in him but Scott was hard to read. About 2 months later, Patrice moved back to Orange County. Later that year they ran into eachother at Stagecoach and sparks flew again but with the distance, Patrice didnt trust that Scott would put in the required effort but they remained friends. Every so often, Patrice would call Scott and they would end up on the phone for hours. She kept saying next time she came back to the desert that she would stop by the new house he bought and meet his dog Blu. In June 2015 Patrice was finally going to be in town for a wedding and called Scott out of the blue and left a voicemail. Scott returned the call the next afternoon and she drove to his house straight from OC after work that day. She finally saw his cute little starter house and his perfect pup named Blu. Next thing they new it was 2am and they hadnt stopped talking. She ended up staying the night with Blu sleeping between them. Scott was such a gentleman and offered to make her pancakes the next morning. Patrice couldn’t stop thinking about him. She texted him a couple days later and asked him to come to OC. Scott accepted but she wasn’t sure if he was there as a friend or more. At the end of the night Scott kissed her their very first kiss. They felt all the butterflies! A little over a year later, Patrice moved in with Scott and his boy Blu.

Shortly after they moved in together they started the addition on their home. They built the house for about 2 years…while Patrice not so patiently waited for a ring. When they were almost finished with the home and Scott was ready to propose, Patrice was diasnosed with stage 2A TNBC. He stood by her side and took her to every chemo and doctors appointment throughout her nearly year long battle. Patrice begged Scott not to propose after she lost her hair. She did not want to see herself like that in their proposal photos. After cancer, they tried to “get back to normal” for a few months when the Covid 19 pandemic hit. By the end of 2020 Scott decided that clearly things are never going to be perfect but he wanted to go through all of life’s trials and tribulations with Patrice as his wife and partner. He asked her to marry him on Christmas morning 2020. It was the perfect time. This was the first year since before cancer where Patrice felt the holiday spirit. Christmas is her favorite!