About Us

Depending on who you ask, Courtney and I met either met New Years Eve in 2019 at a house party or mid-September 2020 at a campground in Ohio. You see, I didn't really talk to Courtney at that party because I thought she was there with someone already (she still hasn't forgiven me for not talking to her that night). At any rate, we first began really talking in Ohio. Our convention group normally attends a convention in the summer at that very campground, but with all the event closures of 2020 the event was not held, but we decided to support our friend who owns the campground (hi, Steve) and take a small group there for a long weekend to get away and relax (and also help rebuild a bridge). We had a great time that weekend getting to know each other and I was confident we would see each other again after that weekend. Courtney, however, did NOT have the same confidence. You see, when we were all heading out of town after breakfast, she exchanged contact info with a lot of the people she met for the first time... EXCEPT me. She wanted ME to make that move, and I didn't — not because I didn't want to, I just had a feeling she would reach out on her own, which she did... like, a day later. We started seeing each other shortly thereafter, and would discover how many times we had crossed paths in the past WITHOUT having met.

The official start date of our relationship is October 5th, 2020 (that date should sound familiar; how appropriate that it just so happens to be a Saturday in 2024). Not long into our relationship, as our first Valentines Day approached, Courtney got sick, so to cheer her up I went over to her house and we watched a movie together. We found out a couple days later — two days before Valentines Day — that she had COVID. I had some meetings coming up that, while not mandatory, I felt I should be at, so I made the decision we should stay apart while she recovered. And then, a few minutes after that decision, I realized, "Hang on, I was with her the other night, I'm probably sick, too". So instead of missing our first Valentines Day together, I invited her to my (now our) house so we could be sick together and still spend Valentines Day together. She came over that weekend and hasn't left since.

Courtney has done a lot for me during our time together. She would listen to me talk about things I wanted to do, goals I had in my life, and encouraged me to get up and achieve them. With her support, we started working out together, I made strides in growing my business, and she even convinced me that I could handle getting a cat, something I'd wanted to do for years and was always hesitant about. Now I can't imagine NOT having a pet around. Valentino (or Tino for short) was the first of several (and I'm sure more to come) pets we would bring into our home. After the passing of Bandit, Courtney's wonderful dog, we decided to look into bringing a dog into our little family, and after months of waiting for the right litter to be born, we took a short road trip to bring home the brilliant-yet-silly little drunken Irish potato of a puppy who we would call Finlay (because Courtney thought there were enough Italian names in the house and wanted to balance that out). Finlay is a wonderful dog, smart and well-behaved, and I credit that all to Courtney's dedication to training him. With the addition of Finlay, our house of two quickly became a house of four, but Courtney longed for a cuddly cat of her own. Eventually I agreed, and fate would put before her a rescue kitten that needed a new home. And that's how we came to be the owners of a high-energy, goofy, and incredibly loving and cuddly cat we call Oliver (based off of the Disney movie "Oliver and Company").

I've always thought that the right person to join your life would be someone that supports you in being who you want to be, who fits together with your life like a puzzle piece. To me, that person is Courtney. Every day she helps keep me accountable to myself for the goals I have set, encourages me to keep improving, provides incredible friendship throughout our adventures, and appreciates my cooking (or is very good at faking it). I owe her so much and I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together. If the last nearly-four years are anything to go one, our lives will be filled with love, adventure, laughter, and plenty of animals.

- Don

Our first time meeting was 1000% at a New Years Eve party in 2019. I was pretty reclusive during this time in my life, but my friend Kevin had convinced me to come to a New Year’s Eve party that his friend Bruce (The Best Man) was hosting at his house. I was hesitant to go, but figured it was a better option than just staying home. The first time I saw Don, he was wearing a suit with what I could only assume was an Old Fashioned in his hand. I remember thinking that he looked really cute and as we hung around the same group of people at the party, I began to see how charming, confident and funny he was. I was never one for dating and very rarely ever felt an attraction to someone, let alone someone I’d never met before, but Don was different. As the night went on, I was actually thinking of trying to figure out how to get a kiss from him at midnight. That is, until I realized that he was trying to get someone else’s attention at the party. So, I cut my losses figuring he was already taken and that I probably wouldn’t see him again after the party.

Then 9 months went by and again my friend Kevin had convinced me to join him and his friend group for a get together in Ohio. Still being a recluse, I wasn’t keen on going but figured it would be a fun trip for my old dog, Bandit. I agreed to go with the expectation of only staying for 2 days. When I got to the cabins, I saw Don walk in with the same girl from New Years and felt a small annoyance and disappointment that I’d probably have to avoid him. However, shortly after everyone had arrived, we all played a fun game of Never Have I Ever. The rules of the game were simple, you start with 10 fingers and every time you can’t agree with the given statement, you have to put a finger down. As the game went on, the statement of “Never have I ever been in a relationship” was used. I kept my finger up and was surprised to see that Don had also not put a finger down. Out of excitement, I embarrassingly blurted out my surprise. As the weekend went on, we slowly started to interact more and more. There was one moment in particular that stuck out a lot. I sometimes have a tendency to blurt out song lyrics as they pop in my head (usually to the annoyance of others). Well someone had mentioned fireworks, so naturally I sang out a line from Katy Perry’s song “Firework”. Completely unprompted, Don joined in and sang the next line and I immediately felt myself blushing because no one had ever done that before. I was disappointed when he didn’t ask for my information, but I decided to creep, found him on Facebook and messaged around 4 hours after we departed. I was really nervous talking to him at first, so I tried to come up with excuses for how we could hang out again. Don played along with my thinly veiled excuses to tease me and then hilariously called me out on them. We officially started dating a week and a half later.

Our first Valentine’s day together was only a couple months into our dating and I wanted to make sure I got him a very special gift, so I decided I was going to give him a glass painting of the anime character I previously told him he reminded me of. The week leading up to Valentine’s day, I felt like hot, flaming garbage. I didn’t have a fever or cough and I wasn’t congested, I just felt awful. I spent my day off on Wednesday working on his painting for hours so I could get it done. To help push myself through how crappy I was feeling, I started singing “I feel like hot garbage yeah yeah yeah, this really sucks bad yeah yeah yeah”, because this was the only day I could work on his gift and wanted to make sure it was ready in time. Once I finished it around 9 pm, I messaged Don if he could come over because I was feeling so crummy and just wanted his company. I certainly didn’t actually expect him to come over, but was so thankful when he did. Two days later, I was struggling to catch my breath, my heart was beating fast and I tested positive for COVID. I was devastated. I knew Don had meetings coming up and that this probably meant we couldn’t spend our first Valentine’s day together. When I called to tell him, he agreed that we probably shouldn’t. As soon as the call ended, I started crying and was so upset…for 15 seconds. Don immediately called me back and said he was probably already exposed, so I might as well just come over anyways. I never left and here we are, 4 years later.

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I never expected to find someone like Don. There was so much baggage that I came with, so many insecurities and fears. I didn’t think anyone would care to handle it, but Don did. When I couldn’t sleep, he’d encourage me to wake him up so I wouldn’t be alone. If I was feeling overwhelmed and anxious, he’d try everything he could to help me relax. Without me ever having to ask, Don took the time to understand me, my issues and embraces my quirks. Even going so far as to watch a show with over 1000+ episodes because I had told him how much the show comforted me. It wasn’t until I lost Bandit that I understood how much he actually cared. The morning I knew I had to put Bandit down, I was a horrible wreck. I was trying my best to just spend time with her before the hospital opened, but I couldn’t help but cry. Don came over to hug me and when he pulled away, I noticed that he was crying now too. I asked why he was crying when he hadn’t been around Bandit long. He told me “because you’re in so much pain and there’s nothing I can do about it”. Don has kept me grounded and helped me through so much in the last 4 years, that it feels like it’s been a lifetime. He has given me a sense of security, helped me grow my confidence and has never told me “no” on the number of animals we can have. He is patient, even when I accidentally lock him out of his house — in the cold — for over an hour one night. He is kind, goofy and my best friend. I don’t think I could ever picture a life without him and I am so excited to officially start the next chapter of our lives together. 

- Courtney