We like to joke that we met through "our moms" — because we did.

Luke had recently made the leap from South Carolina to Utah, still finding his footing in a new city. Meanwhile, his stepmom and my mom had been crossing paths at the barn for years, bonding over horses the way only horse people do. One afternoon, his stepmom turned to my mom and asked, "Didn't you say you have a daughter around Luke's age?" A few texts later, Luke reached out — and I invited him to join me and some friends at Second Summit Cider for beers and pickleball.

It was a great time. I promptly friendzoned him.

Luke claims he wasn't that interested either. I'm letting him have that one.

We went our separate ways — until a weekly beer league kickball game brought Luke back into the picture. My reaction upon seeing him? "Wait, how do you know all these people?!"

And just like that, he was part of the crew.

We fell into an easy rhythm — weekly kickball games, the occasional post-game drink, sometimes with friends, sometimes just the two of us. We talked about everything, including our relationship problems with other people, blissfully unaware of what was right in front of us.

Then I invited him on a backpacking trip — along with our friend Bekah, who, to her credit, pretended not to notice what was happening between the two of us.

He said yes. And Brodie, my rescue dog who has always had better judgment than me, gave his stamp of approval.

Somewhere on a mountainside — the three of us tucked among ancient pines at dusk, cooking backpacker's chili mac on the rocks and laughing until our sides hurt — something shifted. Brodie had already made up his mind about Luke long before either of us did. The mountains have a way of making things clear. We came home knowing something had changed — we were just both too scared to say it out loud.

Eventually, we figured it out.

What started as my dog is now our dog, and somehow, through horses, kickball, and backpacker's chili mac, we found our way to each other. We can't wait to celebrate with all of you at Deer Valley Resort on September 5, 2027.