It has been said a million times – you fall in love at a time you least expect it.

Seriously, mine came at a time when I got fed up with love. Having lived a quarter of a century, I had my share of stories of unrequited love and bad break ups. But after another hopeless tussle with cupid, I was ready to remain single for at least 2 years.

Or so I thought, until fate crawled in...

After grad school I packed my bags and moved from Minneapolis to Phoenix; needing a change in scenery, I moved in with my best friend, Lezlie. While waiting for my paperwork to go through in order to work as an Occupational Therapist in the state of AZ, I took a temp job and made the best of my time off before becoming an adult in the real world. About a month into my stay with Lezlie, she took me to a welcoming party for incoming students at the Naturopathic Medical School, which she attended. It was there where I met Lucas for the first time.

I remember walking towards him with Lezlie to say hello, thinking he was attractive but reminding myself of my 2-year plan to remain away from all men, I quickly looked away. It was then that Lucas caught my attention with some forward comment about me "being prettier than Lezlie's description." I remember rolling my eyes and thinking to myself that this was just another good example of why I vowed off men for a couple of years.

Later that next week, I was sitting in the lounge of Lezlie and Lucas' school using the internet, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Lucas coming in my direction. Quickly, I started to look really busy to avoid any awkward comments. Lucas passed in front of me; slyly glancing up I noticed he was going towards the drinking fountain to fill his water bottle. After refilling, he turned in my direction and with one accidental swing of his overfilled bag he tipped over 3-4 chairs. It was probably the first time I really noticed him. He was of course embarrassed by the whole ordeal, but tried not to show it. He just smiled, fixed the chairs and came over to talk to me. His smile was the first thing I loved about him - it seemed so honest and kind.

From that awkward moment, came many more lovely ones. We definitely had an instant connection, one that even my 2-year plan couldn't compete with. We both tried really hard not to become too attached for I had plans to leave Arizona and move to California to start my adult-career life as a traveling Occupational Therapist.

After moving, Lucas and I decided to keep things simple. No formal labels meant no one gets hurt. After his visit to Cali, which also included an amazing trip up the coast to the Redwoods, it was clear that we wanted to be together. But my plans of moving back to Arizona were quickly halted by an opportunity to work at John’s Hopkins in Baltimore, MD. I still remember that conversation, telling him about the huge change in our plans, and how hard it was to choose between two amazing opportunities in my life.

Neither of us gave up on the idea of “us.” We once again continued to talk and stay close friends, hoping that one-day our paths would cross again. And they did.

I went to visit Lucas in April of 2008. That was the trip that changed my life. He ignored all the insecurity he had of my possible change in feeling for him and put his love for me all on the table. He told me he loved me (for the first time after over a year) and asked me to move there to be with him. He said if he could, that if he didn’t have school, he would move anywhere to be with me; and I believed him.

Our relationship began with simple flirtatious behavior, but quickly evolved into a beautiful friendship and more. He’s my soul mate and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.