Our Story

Kaleb and I first "met" in May of 2018. I say "met" only because we had technically danced before, but we never actually exchanged names or talked or anything like that, so that obviously doesn't count. But anyways, it was when we had the first meeting with a bunch of people to see who was interested in being part of/forming the team that soon became the Rocket Butts. Honestly all I remember about him that day was that he was sitting at the other end of the table from me. I was really excited as being on a dance team was on of my goals for 2018, so when Ben approached me when this team was forming, I was super excited. This was also the day that the Rocket Butts joke started began which eventually became our name.

The first photo we were both in together, cira July 2018

Shortly after, we began having practice every week. I was in the middle of LEAP, so I would hang out in the Redmond/Bellevue area after work, usually getting tacos at El Rinconsito before heading to Crescendo, the venue we have practice at. Once July came around I had my summer vacation between finishing LEAP and starting as FTE at Microsoft, which meant I was dancing most nights of the week. Honestly, it was one of the best summers of my life. I stayed up super late, danced so much, helped open Suzie Q's, made new friends, became closer with older ones, and my dancing improved by leaps and bounds. 

After practice on Mondays we go down the street to Mox, eat junk food, chat, and just enjoy hanging out with everyone. Over the summer we all became really close as we geared up for our first performance in August and at this point I would've considered Kaleb a friend, but nothing beyond that. I appreciated having another nerd around to geek out with about random things that other people don't get.

We Became Friends
Then it happened: I moved to Redmond.

This was big because Kaleb lives in Bellevue which ya know, it's right next to Redmond. And this meant that we could carpool to Seattle together, which was great because I'm sure everyone got tired of me complaining about how much I dislike driving to and parking in Seattle. It's just not fun. The first time we carpooled also happened to be my first night in my apartment: September 22nd. That night was Revival Rhythm (now called Jazz Jambalaya, but let's be real, I'll accidentally be calling it Revival Rhythm for a long time) and that was where it all began.

Awwww, that sounds so sappy.

But really. I doubt we would be where we are now if it wasn't for carpooling.

I have to take a moment here to say the timing of this was all amazing, because when I moved to Redmond I moved into an apartment on my own. So for the very first time in my life, I was adjusting to living all by myself, which quite honestly was weird and a bit of an adjustment. Even after my family moved out of state, I was renting a room from the Miller's (who are like my second family now), which meant I still had people around. So that first night in my own place I was thankful that A) Revival Rhythm was that night, so I could spend it dancing and with friends to take my mind of the new change. And B) having Kaleb around to talk to and feel less alone. He definitely made the transition so much easier than it would've been and kept me from getting too lonely.

But back to carpooling, the magical bonding experience of driving across 520 together multiple times a week. And it didn't take long to build a strong friendship. We'd talk about all sorts of random stuff. Lots of jazz and dance things, how we both love Disney movies, we exchanged family history and crazy family stories, my deep love for tacos, and I'd always point out the Space Needle when it came into view. And usually at the end of the night we'd end up sitting in one of our cars talking way too late into the night.

At this point we were seeing each other at least four times a week, because of dance stuff. Mondays were practice, Tuesdays Suzie Q's, Fridays at Eastside Stomp, and Sundays was another practice. Sometimes more than that, just depending on what was going on each week. Because of that it was natural for us to spend a lot of time around each other without even trying. So because of that + the carpooling, we became close friends real fast. It was kinda like the crash course to becoming BFF's. And this is why in the middle of October, while we were both outside my car at 1am in the parking lot of Aria after a night of dancing, he told me he was interested in me.

And I turned him down.

Yup, you read that right. I shot him down (but yes, I was nice about it) and told him I wasn't interested. I definitely loved spending time with him and considered him one of my best friends at this point. But I wasn't sure of anything else at that point.

Looking back and talking about it now, I now know that he was interested in me sometime around when I moved to Redmond/when we started carpooling together. But me? Uh, yeah, it took me a bit longer to realize I felt the same way.

Christmas time calls for egg nog! Or in my case, almond nog.

After me rejecting him (wow, this could've been a sad story), life went on. We were still carpooling and seeing each other all the time (#dancelife) and it wasn't really a big deal. Though he was definitely still interested and thought there still might be something there, to which Katie, who had been his sounding board for him figuring how/what to do with me since the beginning, reassured him that "there may be something there that wasn't there before".

No joke, she sent him Beauty and the Beast gifs. If you know Katie, you're not surprised by this fact.

So with this positive encouragement, he didn't give up. Something for which I'm very grateful for, because I didn't know what I was talking about before.

Time went on and I was slowly realizing that, yes, I really did like him beyond just a friend. At the beginning of November he went to San Francisco for Fog City Stomp and I definitely missed him a lot while he was away. That was also the same time my parents came to visit, and once we became official and told the fam, my mom said that she thought something was/would happen between us from the way I was talking about him while they were in town (news flash: she was right). The Monday he got back we ended up talking in my car outside of Mox till 2am about a lot of deeper personal stuff. This was definitely a defining point in our relationship and I was really confident at this point that I wanted to marry him someday. The following Saturday, which also happened to be Revival Rhythm (not quite yet renamed to Jazz Jambalaya), we decided/realized/cleared the air that we were officially dating.

Oh, and another thing. That Friday, the day before we became official official, after coming home from Eastside Stomp I wrote him a letter. I didn't know when I would give it to him, but I needed to get all me feelings and thoughts down on paper (which if you know me, you know that writing isn't exactly my favorite thing, so that says a lot). I was completely confident at this point that I was going to marry Kaleb and now there's proof in my own handwriting! I gave it to him sometime around the middle/end of January (I'm not quite sure), but he teared up reading it and said it meant a lot to him.

We're Dating Now
The following Wednesday we had our "first" date. We never really went on a real date before we started officially dating, so we deem the night we saw Ralph Breaks the Internet out first date. The plan was to meet at the MOD Pizza next to the Bella Bogetta Regal Cinemas, which is like 6 minutes from my place. It was really funny as when Kaleb was leaving his place he was listening to one of the Bethke's podcasts and they were talking about how it wasn't a real date if the guy doesn't pick the girl up. So with the sudden realization that he should've remembered this sooner, he texted me, picked me up, and we were on our way. I got a kick out of that when he told me.

The day we became official official.

Kaleb had read Love that Lasts by Jeff and Alyssa Bethke a few weeks prior and was able to have some breakthroughs because of it, so we decided read a few chapters each week and discuss what we found interesting. And the first night we did that while we were eating pizza at MOD. Going through the book together was very beneficial as it brought up topics that wouldn't naturally come up as easily and was able to allow us to realize we have similar views and goals in life.

After our pizza we went next door to the theater. We decided to get a giant popcorn (because why not) and it was really funny as the guy working the concessions was really (and I mean really, really) enthusiastic and was trying to get us to buy more stuff. It was seriously like what you see in the movies! All in all it was a pretty great first date. ;)

Telling my family turned into quite the event. I was super nervous to tell them, just because I'd never done anything like this before. I knew they'd be happy and love Kaleb, so I wasn't worried about that at all. So I sent a message on the family group chat and they blew it up with notifications and practically begged me to bring him home for Christmas. While this was going on Alina found him on Facebook and got his phone number and started texting him and giving him smack for not liking mayonnaise (when I messaged my family I included some random facts, including how he doesn't like mayo).

Let's Get Married
For Christmas Kaleb went to Idaho with me to spend it with my family. This was his first time meeting the whole fam and it went splendidly. He honestly fits in so well. Even Koko loves him! After coming back to Seattle we both came to the realization that we for sure wanted to get married. And do so in 2019.

Yup, we were only officially dating for a month in a half before we decided to get married. What can we say, we like to keep people on their toes. When people find out that we're already getting married, they usually make some comment about how quick we decided that. But honestly there's no reason for us not to get married this year. We're both in our mid-twenties, have stable jobs, live on our own, and are in good places in our lives. We both have discussed core values, beliefs, and want to raise a family. But most of all we both feel at peace about it all.

We decided that we wanted to get engaged soon, but since we weren't going to see my family until the middle of March (and Kaleb wanted to get my dad's blessing in person) we knew we weren't going to get officially engaged until at least the end of March. We also knew that we wanted to get married at the end of the summer for various reasons (and things for that time of year would book fast), so we decided to lock down a venue and photographer ASAP. And so began the slightly awkward phase where certain people knew we were planning our wedding before we even got engaged. It really wasn't a big deal, but it definitely threw people off, especially when they realized how long we'd been together.

He Put a Ring on it

On March 19th, 2019 Kaleb asked me to marry him. I obviously said yes. ;)

We were in Idaho with my family after I spend the weekend at Inland Empire Shuffle. Part of the reason that Kaleb came with me was to officially get my dad's blessing. I knew we would be engaged in the next few weeks, but I honestly didn't expect it while we were still in Idaho! 

The day before we left was my dad's birthday. He usually doesn't do much, but in the evening after dinner we were opening presents. When he got to the last present, Kaleb started walking towards my dad, but then turned towards me and said it was for me. It was a scrapbook of a bunch of our memories together and made to look like the "Our Adventure Book" from Up. After getting to the end of the book he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

Sidenote: After saying that I wasn't in the best photographable state, members of my family were trying to gently nudge me to go downstairs and do something about it. I was like, nah, but now I know why.

Final Thoughts
I always thought the cheesy relationship cliches were nonsense. You know the ones "I'm marrying my best friend."and "When you know, you know". But somehow they all seem to be true. I really am marrying my best friend. We both love just being around each other and will always support, encourage, and just be there when the other needs us. We love spending time together and simply living life with each other. Cooking dinners and watching a movie. Sitting on the couch working on projects next to each other. Especially the little things like running outside to see the super blood wolf moon after a friend texted us about it. Or running errands at Costco together. Or browsing Target together instead of watching the Super Bowl.

And I know how vague "When you know, you know" sounds, but I've found it to be true. Many people are surprised at how quickly we've moved in our relationship. They're not wrong, but when you're both committed to keeping Christ at the center of your relationship and you feel at peace about it, there's no reason not to commit. We also were able to move so fast because we've both been very open about everything. We don't let our feelings bottle up, but rather focus on always communicating and being honest with each other. Kaleb has always been super open about his past experiences and has never tried to hide anything, even from the very beginning. Because of this we've been able to build a foundation of trust and communication from the very beginning.

I'm so excited to be married to Kaleb, to become an Elwert (still working on making the name change official), and to be at each other's side as we grow into the people that Christ intends for us to be. To go through life with such a caring and thoughtful man makes me more thankful than you can imagine. Here's to our life ahead!