I’ll tell you how my fiancé got me: he liked my picture on okaycupid or tinder, idk, can’t remember. I liked his. Then he didn’t say anything to me. After a day or so of him not reaching out I messaged him and said, “so are you going to say hi or what?” He thought that was funny. We made plans to meet up.

In his pictures he looked like a fitness model so I wasn’t expecting anything serious (they’re fun, nice guys, just typically aren’t my type). I just expected to have a night out with a typical meat head who would be nice enough but wouldn’t be anything serious. Which is what I wanted because I was starting to feel like maybe relationships just weren’t meant for me. Turns out he was unlike any other guy I’d ever been out with. He was incredibly intelligent, he talked about how much he loved his family and how sweet his grandma was. When a sketchy guy approached us later in the evening instead of escalating the situation to look tough he deescalated it. He was new in the city and didn’t have a problem laughing about being confused or overwhelmed by some aspects of it. I pretty much knew that first night that he was special.

And then a month later he came over to my house and had to wait downstairs while I was finishing getting ready. And when I finally came down the stairs I found him laying on the ground taking selfie’s with my k-9 flunkee Belgian malinois in his arms and she was cozied up next to him while he gave her belly rubs and told her how cute she was. She’d hated my worst boyfriend immediately. She’d liked my previous boyfriends enough. But she had never just cozied up to one and put her head next to theirs to take selfies before. Been together 6 years now and I can’t wait to be his wife and have his kids.

So be comfortable to be who you are. Be blue to laugh at any weird punches that may happen, be willing to show genuine warmth, and be down to discuss a wide range of topics.