The first time we “met” met, I was living down the hall from Nick and Rachel. I had just got done with my morning routine of 200 pushups and 200 situps and stepped outside to see a golden blonde girl dropping off her golden doodle at Nick and Rachel’s apartment. We introduced ourselves and went on with our days. Fast forward to March 2020, we were all in lockdown. The ski resorts and golf courses had closed so Nick and I did the next best thing in Salt Lake, disc golf. Halfway through the round, he gave me Soph’s number and said I should text her to hang out sometime. I had to play it cool so I waited two days and reached out. A week later I was invited over to a party at Soph’s house and had my first chance to really hang out with her. After seven rounds of interviews with her best friend Sarah, I finally had the opportunity to hang out with Soph and get to know her. We hit it off immediately and scheduled a real first date for the following day. We planned to hike Living Room up by the U. When we met the next morning, Soph suggested we change plans to walk Scout along the Shoreline Trail and get cheeseburgers after. At this exact moment, I knew she was the one. The next weeks we spent hiking, playing dominoes, and hanging out at the local parks. I knew things were moving quickly when I woke up to a foster dog at my door with a suitcase full of heart medication. Soph had signed me up to foster a dog that had been found on the streets of Puerto Rico. Charlie, or Chuck as we called him, quickly became a part of our crew even after he ate half of the clothes in our closets. I admired Soph’s willingness to always help those in need (or just facilitate someone else to help those in need). For Memorial Day, we went on a trip to Moab to meet my cousin Daniel and his girlfriend, Morgan. Our first weekend together and I almost killed us both, accidently taking the ATV route out to the campground and slowly navigating narrow passages to avoid the 40 foot drop offs into the Colorado River. We made it to the campground and one piece, thanks to Soph’s calm attitude and encouraging motivation, keeping my mind off scare of the drive and the damage to my car. It was an amazing getaway and quality time with Soph, as I knew she was planning to move to Los Angeles in the coming weeks. As her departure date got closer, I was getting bummed that we would no longer be able to see each other every day. So after moving back home to Annapolis for two months, I decided I needed to be back with my person full-time. I found a room (really a closet or “Harry Potter room”) in Redondo Beach. Little did I know this was still a 50-minute drive from Sophie’s house in West Hollywood. I might as well have still been across the country. A year later, I convinced Sophie to come move closer to the beach, one of our favorite places to be together. I was so crazy about Soph and now we we’re living walking distance from the beach in beautiful Southern California. Our surroundings were amazing but just with Soph by my side, I knew this must be the place. Wherever I am with Sophie, at the beach or on a red-eye back to the East Coast to visit family, is my happy place. -B