The First Date - 9/25/2021

We connected on a dating app, as 99% of people do these days. Being two people who don't love making small talk, we quickly made a deep connection and wanted to meet in person. Kathrine found a sitter for Jameson just a few days after matching and ventured to Fargo to meet Kelsey for the first time.

Kelsey watched the Fargo Marathon the morning of our first date, which meant she had an early morning wake up call and a well deserved nap before our evening plans.

Kathrine spent the day panic shopping for an outfit to wear and then headed to Fargo - texting Kelsey her ETA. The panic really started to set in as she was pulling into Moorhead and still hadn't heard from Kelsey.

Kathrine pulled up to Vinyl Taco and sent one last 'I hope I'm not being stood up' text, and Kelsey responded with a wave of panic, realizing she'd overslept her nap.

Feeling relief, Kathrine went into Vinyl Taco and proceeded to sample the libations to help diffuse her nerves of waiting for Kelsey. (The irony of this situation - from then on, Kelsey spent much more time waiting on Kathrine and her questionable time management).

Once Kelsey arrived, the date was a whirlwind. What was supposed to be tacos and axe throwing turned into late night video games and ice cream (even though we weren't hungry) just because we truly were enjoying our time together.

The Second Date 9/28/2021

Kathrine got the home court advantage for this date, and really thought she had a perfect night planned: a sunset drive through Tamarac Wildlife Refuge and a charcuterie tray picnic with a homemade sparkling apple cider.

Kelsey met Kathrine at her house in Detroit Lakes with a bouquet of flowers, after many reassurances that Kathrine had no prior history of kidnapping or unaliving any prior romantic interests and hopped in the truck with her for this 'secret adventure'.

Kathrine had perfectly planned the route through Tamarac, planning to end up at a picnic area right at sunset. What Kathrine did not realize is that the roads she planned to travel were one-way roads, and they did not go in the direction that would allow for optimal picnicking by the sunset. They proceeded to drive in circles on the same roads in both directions and Kelsey discreetly gripped the oh-shit handle, only slightly fearing for her life. Was she being kidnapped? Were they going to be spending the night in the woods?

Realizing her perfect plan had been destroyed, Kathrine quickly went to plan B: going to a nearby park by the river to eat in the almost dark.

While we were eating the charcuterie tray of foods that Kathrine prepared (all foods that Kathrine would not eat, by the way) there were two feral cats that decided that they wanted to join in the awkwardness of this date. Kathrine, being a lover of animals tried to befriend the cats with salami roses and cheese, to no avail.

In an attempt to recover the date, Kathrine decided to bring Kelsey to a local spot for a nightcap and some food (because she was starving from not eating the charcuterie tray). Kelsey had to drive home so decided to just have a water, and Kathrine shotgunned a lavender cocktail of some sort faster than previously thought possible. Some uncomfortable conversation was held over a dish of spinach artichoke dip, and Kathrine decided it was time to call it- clearly she had blown whatever magic was going on their first date.

When they got back to Kathrine's house, Kathrine quickly waved bye and RAN into the house to hide.

But that wasn't the end...

Against all odds, Kelsey didn't drive away forever. She called Kathrine when she got home, and it was a whirlwind adventure from there.

Kelsey got to meet Jameson just before Halloween and Kathrine knew that Kelsey was going to be the perfect addition to our family.

The fun of having a nontraditional relationship is the opportunity to throw any and all traditions to the wind.

We both wanted the opportunity to get a token of our love for each other and do it on our own time. Enjoy our separate stories - just 3 months apart (but if you ask Kathrine, it felt like AGES).

12/12/2022

Kathrine had been scheming for a while on the best way to propose to Kelsey. She had consulted with Kelsey's sister, some of Kelsey's friends, and Jameson even had his hand in the plan.

In true graphic designer style, Kathrine picked a theme and stuck with it. She was determined to make a custom ring box that had the same design as the tumbler she made in the early days of their relationship.

On Kathrine's birthday, she had made an elaborate plan to go out for a nice dinner with Jameson and pop the question. Jameson knew Kathrine had the 'special surprise for Kelsey' in her bag and did such a good job keeping it a surprise - especially since that's never been his strong suit.

After realizing that a fancy dinner really wasn't our style, Kathrine decided to do it at the place they felt most comfortable - Kathrine's home. Having a long distance relationship, it wasn't the size of the gesture, it was just that we were together.

After Jameson had gone to bed, Kathrine prepared for the big reveal but Kelsey had no inclination that anything was going on. She was folding laundry and opened a new board game to check out - just taking her time. Meanwhile, Kathrine was itching to move on and kept asking Kelsey, "are you done yet?" Finally Kathrine made Kelsey put everything away and brought out two little packages.

Kathrine had made a rainbow Christmas ornament that said MARRY ME? on it, and put it in a gift box. She handed it to Kelsey saying that it was a gift she got from a high school friend every year and that she could open it if she wanted, since she sent two this year. When Kelsey opened it, she was confused at first - wondering why a high school friend would be mailing an ornament like that - until Kathrine handed her the ring box, and then it all made sense.

Hands down, best birthday ever!

3/10/2023

After this first proposal, Kelsey was feeling the pressure to make her move. Kelsey does things a little bit differently - take things slow and think about all of the possibilities. But this kind of thing requires some planning. Kelsey gathered lots of information Kathrine's preferences on ring style and took notes. Kelsey recruited the help of her sister and a friend - basically needed the encouragement to pull the trigger and order the ring.

Then there needs to be a plan for the engagement. Kelsey had so many ideas to make the moment perfect for Kathrine. We had our trip to Arizona for the Taylor Swift concert coming up - that would be so perfect! But that is a lot of responsibility to travel with a ring. Something bad might happen. Then the ring arrived in the mail and she didn't want to be responsible for it anymore. She just had to do it.

LEGO is one of our family's favorite activities. Kelsey really wanted to incorporate this activity into the engagement. One evening Kathrine was working on a new LEGO set. Kelsey used her stealthy moves (and Kathrine's complete lack of awareness) to sneak the ring into the second bag of pieces. Kathrine dumped out the bag of pieces and continued on her build while Kelsey sat next to her just waiting for the big reaction. But it didn't come...

Kelsey: "How many turtles are in there?"

Kathrine: "So many turtles!"

Kelsey: "You should count them..."

Kathrine: "One...two...three...wait someone lost their...wait..."

...and the rest is history...

Jameson: "Why is there a ring in the LEGO set?"