Our love story began in Bend, Oregon. Zanna was in graduate school at Oregon State University-Cascades to get her degree in school counseling, and Nat was working as a sous chef at Juniper Springs in Redmond. If it weren't for the wonderful people in our lives, it is likely we would never have met.

Zanna's Perspective:

I met my friend Phoebe in grad school, and she went through practicum with me at Sage Elementary School. While I was anxiously setting up the chairs for my first ever counseling small group (Kindergarten no less!), Phoebe decided this would be a superb time to ask me if I'd be interested in going on a blind date. She explained that one of her closest friends had a younger brother around my age that she knew very well and felt like we would hit it off. I thought, sure why not? It couldn't hurt. So I agreed, and during lunch, she filled me in on what Nat does for work, and how she knows him. Her husband and her friend Greta's husband are twins (yeah it's confusing, go ahead and read that again until it makes sense), so she had known Nat for years. Because of this, she was an excellent judge of character and she can now say that she has a 100% success rate for matchmaking! After that first date (which lasted about 4 hours!), I knew Nat would be a very special person in my life. And thanks to Phoebe and Greta, I can say that I met my husband through the unique circumstance of a blind date!

Nat's Perspective:

I was sitting on the couch in the living room watching TV, when Greta came in. She said, "weird question... how would you feel about going on a blind date?" I was completely shocked, that was the last thing I expected her to say to me. I was interested, however, and I told her I'd be up for it! She told me that Phoebe reached out to her and asked some questions about my current relationship status because she had a friend in grad school that she thought I'd get along with. Phoebe said that Zanna was one of the sweetest and nicest people that she knows, and I later found out that she said something similar to Zanna about me. The next few hours I sat nervously twiddling my thumbs on the couch while Greta and Phoebe excitedly planned our first meeting. The plan was to get coffee and chat, and we ended up exploring downtown and essentially spending the rest of the afternoon together. At the end of the date, my heart was beating like crazy and I was already starting to plan the next date. I knew from the first date that Zanna was someone incredibly special!