The story of Parker and I spans NINE years now! So this will be a super quick spark notes version ;) I'm sure as I try to get back into blogging that there will be more backstory to come lol.

When We Met: We met in 2011 through a mutual friend! TBH I cannot remember when/how we met for the life of me (I was 16!!!) but a couple of years ago - maybe like 2015/2016 - Parker admitted that he ASKED the mutual friend of ours to introduce us! When we met I KNEW Parker had a crush but I thought it was through getting to know me and texting/talking on the phone but apparently he had a crush on me for a full YEAR before we met!!!!!!!!!!! (Which makes my hurt flutter in all the ways haha) BUT we met through a close mutual friend, and became super close in little time! I was 16 and slightly boy crazy and dealing with the drama that comes with that and Parker was TRULY like a safe haven for me! He was sweet and kind and never made me feel bad about the fact that he had a crush on me but I was too busy thinking about other boys lol he has ALSO recently admitted to me that he rode his bike once from his neighborhood alllllll the way to mine to bring me my favorite drink (Horchata at the time) haha

2013-2016: I met Parker my Junior year of high school and that same year I ended up moving to a city about 30+ min away. We stayed close! But eventually I made other friends and even found out that Parker had gotten a GIRLFRIEND since I left! I remember a piece of me feeling a little sad but back then I think it was more so that, that meant I couldn't turn to him how I was so used to! Out of respect for his relationship we didn't talk nearly as much as we used to (this was already happening regardless) and there was a drift! Eventually he and this girl broke up and we were back on as BFFs before I graduated high school (now 2013)! Less than a week after I graduated we went to the movies to watch The Purge together (tbh probs our first "date" but I wouldn't think of it that way back then lol)

Then I went to a small community college and in 2014 I realized I was in love with him hahahaha literally out of the blue, the feeling just hit me and I pursued it a little harder. HOWEVER, I came to that realization in April of 2014 (also Parker's senior year of high school) and in May he signed to go play college basketball in Minnesota!!! (insert the saddest sad face of all time) SO he left for college and I was sad all summer haha

He ended up returning from Minnesota a year later to stay for good and by that time - 2015 - I had gotten 5 acceptance letters to finish my BS degree in London, England! I saw him as soon as he came back home that spring/summer and I had mere weeks to decide on schooling. At the time I saw him I was SET on leaving in September for 3+ years and falling in love w a British boy haha but in July I realized that due to financial reasons, my best course of action was to continue living at home and to attend a State University (#godevils #forksup)

Parker returned and attended a community college close to my university and I still saw him every now and then! However, I realized that things were different with him. While he was in MN he had told me he was seeing a girl and when he came back that hurt still just stuck with me! I realized that he wasn't the same boy in HS who liked me SO much and that maybe the feelings just weren't there anymore! SOOOOOO I decided to start dating...

2016-2017: If you've been following my story for awhile now you would know that during my senior/junior year of college I was in a serious relationship and even ended up getting engaged! At this point in my life Parker was (understandably) not even on my radar haha this relationship happened so fast and ended almost just as quickly! I spent a long time in the worst mental/emotional state while engaged to this person. For context, the relationship started April 2016, we were engaged June 2016, and ended it completely by May 2017. BUT PARKER WASNT GONE QUITE YET haha

During the ENTIRE engagement basically, my mom + sisters would not let me hear the END of how they thought I should end my engagement and date Parker hahaha #teamparker WAS A THING between my sisters even though I had never really told them the extent of Parker and I's friendship - but i maintained that parker was a different person, and so was I and that it would NEVER EVER work out (LOL @ me)

Right before our final breakup, in February 2017 Parker sent me a DM on instagram telling me congratulations about my engagement! I thanked him and moved on - then that summer he noticed that i was cleaning out my social media of my ex and he DM'ed me asking about what happened to all my pictures (at this point i think he concluded that I was no longer seeing my ex)! That summer I spent a lot of time sad and thinking about next steps (I was supposed to get married Oct 2017) so i was in ZERO shape to entertain another boy/relationship haha so I agreed to hang out with him (probably like once) and then continued to work on myself! I got braces in 2017 and kept quiet! We texted every now and then and kept in contact!

2018-2019: In 2018 a close mutual friend had a baby and we all visited her family home to meet him! This was the first time Parker and I had seen each other in a couple of months and he texted me right after to hang out! I saw him a couple of days later, and then maybe a couple of months of that (right before summer started). In August of 2018 I got my BRACES TAKEN OFF and started to feel antsy about life and dating again! So I decided to just put myself out there and to see what would happen! FRESHLY braces-less I started casually dating. And I mean SUPER casually dating. I think after my long, hard relationship I was ready to just feel pretty and wanted again! During this time, Parker was pursuing me as if he was high school Parker all over again. HOWEVER (another twist) I was taking one of the boys I was casually dating a little more seriously than the others and felt like it was really going somewhere! I let myself get sad over some boys (still having feelings here) and admitted to Parker several times that i was in the middle of different things just to be completely transparent with him haha he was as CONFIDENT as he always is and told me I was wasting my time with them hahahahahaha #tru

In March/April of 2019 he sent me the SWEEETEST text I think a girl could even dream of - he told me that he had a heart to heart with his Grandpa about finding love and ending up with a quality person and that I was the only person that came to mind (tears, I still have a screenshot of this EXACT conversation) and AS MUCH AS I LOVED IT I wasn't done getting all the attention I could from others. He continued to text me and to try to see me and I continued to avoid it, channeling all the hurt I felt in previous years and deciding I needed a brand new CLEAN slate for my next relationship but by June I realized I didn't want to stay in AZ and I started looking for new jobs in OR and started seriously thinking about leaving home - at this point I couldn't get Parker out of my head so I agreed to meet up with him! We saw each other several times for a few weeks and even on my 24th birthday! We spent 4th of July together and I began meeting all his other friends and realized that he MIGHT be taking me seriously now

BC I'm young and DUMB, a boy i was seeing casually before (the same one I was really feeling out and thought was something special) began taking our relationship a little more seriously as well! Parker found out and I was CUT OFF hahaha like he blocked me from all his social media - when i saw this I reached out several times and told him how sorry I was and that I didn't mean to hurt him and that I didn't know he was THAT serious about us and he forgave me! We continued to hang out and in July I began interviewing for a company in OR (my current workplace) as well as other places in AZ (backups). When I found out that I got the job I was actually WITH Parker and told him I was going to think about it, the next day I told him I decided to go! Now August, we spent a lot of time talking about how sad it was that I was leaving and how much we'd miss each other and that we'd see each other as much as we could until I left, in between this time I went on a family trip to Disneyland and by the time I got back I only had 2.5 weeks before I left for Oregon (where I'd settle and leave again and spend two weeks in PA for training). In that 2.5 weeks we played/joked with the idea of him coming with and then the idea became a plan and before I knew it I was meeting his family!

While I was in PA for work training he OFFICIALLY asked/told me to be his girlfriend (LOL) and that was it!

2020: I am going to admit, the first month of being officially together was HARD. I was insecure about the last 8 years of ups and downs and I didn't know how to handle living with a signifiant other. BUT we figured it out and we decided it was time for a baby in January of this year! I got pregnant in January (technically conceived in Feb but you know how that goes lol) and here we are today!!!!!!! Happy and so in love - so so SOOOOOO in love!

Okay, maybe this wasn't as spark notes as I planned but I had to get all my favorite details in that I could lol so there it is, the short version of our long history together. We talk about how crazy our story is ALL THE TIME and how thankful we are for the events that led us here FINALLY. Love love love my BFF with all my heart and can't wait to see him become a DADDY! (insert all the happy tears here)