Our Story

This all starts in 2023. I was living on my own for the first time in my apartment in Channelview. I was still working as a Speech Pathologist and honestly was just absolutely miserable at my job and overall unhappy with a lot of things happening in life. I had been on dating apps for the better part of 5–6 years at this point and was just sick of it. All the guys on there were the same, and I was over having the same conversations over and over again, especially with people I knew it would never lead anywhere with. I was at a point where I was asking God every day to just let me be happy again. I was tired of being sad and in a bad mood all the time. I would wake up and pray the same thing: “God, please just let things get better. Help me figure out how to make myself happy again.” I finally got to a place where I started doing more things in my free time that I actually enjoyed. I got into paint-by-numbers — I could put on a show, pour a glass of wine, and relax for hours. I also started getting back into playing video games and streaming them on Twitch. I had built a little friend group online from playing Fortnite. One of them I played with often — we call him Galaxy, but his name is Ivan. We would play random squads or duos together and kept meeting new people this way. One night I was streaming Fortnite with Galaxy, and we ended up in a close fight with another duo. We were almost dead, but we managed to win. That duo happened to be streamers too. One of them, Gabe Moncayo, came into my Twitch chat after the game to say it was him we had just killed. He complimented us on how good the match was and basically just said “GG” (good game, in gamer terms). He followed me, I followed him, and then honestly, we didn’t interact again for maybe 2–3 months, possibly longer. After some time, I noticed that whenever I was winding down for bed, I’d get a notification that Gabe had gone live streaming Fortnite. I started watching his stream at night and would usually fall asleep while it was on. I’d talk with him on Twitch chat, got to know him, and eventually we became friends. We even started playing Fortnite together sometimes — either as duos, with my friend group, or with people he knew. Anytime Gabe streamed, I’d have his chat pulled up to chit-chat with him or the others. Eventually, I became friends with one of Gabe’s followers too — someone named “Velcrafting.” He was always super nice and chatty. He eventually started coming into my stream as well and talking to me there. I remember one night I had an especially bad day at work and was ranting on stream about how much I hated my job and wanted out of that career but felt stuck. Well, Velcrafting messaged me on Discord (it’s an app where you can message, call, or video chat — a lot of gamers use it). He sent me this super long message about how he’d love to help me re-vamp my resume and job search, told me my feelings were valid, and encouraged me not to give up hope. Just this really positive, thoughtful message. Well… I didn’t respond for about three days, lol. When I finally did, I apologized and said something like, “Sorry, I’ve been so busy and haven’t had a chance to respond.” He was super nice and understanding and said, “No worries at all, just respond whenever. I’ll be here.” …and then I didn’t reply again for another few days. Eventually, when I was in the right headspace, I did reply. And from there we just clicked. We chatted all day, starting with work and eventually moving on to random topics. I really enjoyed talking to him — his messages always had context, and our conversations just flowed. We’d both stay up late messaging on Discord, even though he was an hour ahead since he lived in Virginia. Pretty soon, we were talking every single day. That’s when I learned his real name: Steven.

Over time, we started playing Fortnite together regularly and building on our friendship. (Side note: before I even met Steven online, I had already deleted all my dating apps and completely given up on dating. I was just trying to focus on being happier in life… and then I met Steven maybe two weeks later.) As our conversations kept going, I could tell sometimes that Steven might have a crush on me. He saw my face because of my streams, but I hadn’t seen his yet. He’d call me beautiful, tell me how pretty he thought I was, and when we talked about exes and failed talking stages, he’d always say he was shocked by how people had treated me. He’d make a point to tell me he’d never treat someone that way. Eventually, I got him to send me a picture so I could see what he looked like. When he did… well, I won’t say he was ugly, but he wasn’t my type. He had hair longer than mine, scraggly facial hair, and glasses that looked like something straight out of an 80s serial killer documentary, lol. But then he told me he didn’t even care to have long hair — he was only growing it out to donate to cancer patients who needed wigs. And I thought, dang, this guy really is a good dude. On top of that, he had two cats that he cared for deeply, and it showed. We kept talking, and eventually our conversations went from messaging, to me calling him every day after work, to staying on the phone until we fell asleep, and then eventually FaceTiming almost 24/7. We’d even fall asleep on FaceTime together after watching a movie or a YouTube video on screen share. One night, me, Steven, and Gabe had a drinking/gaming night. Gabe had whiskey, Steven had beer, and I had wine. After a few hours of playing and streaming, Steven and I ended up on a call alone, and he confessed his feelings. He told me he really liked me, and that if I gave him the chance, he’d show me he could be different and treat me better than anyone else had. I told him I liked him too, but I wasn’t ready. I needed to keep working on myself and still wasn’t sure about the physical attraction. I asked him to just be my friend for now. I know it made him sad, but he respected it. I also told him my concerns — like the hair and glasses, lol. He asked what he could do to change it. I said, “Cut your hair and ditch the glasses.” So he did. As soon as his hair was long enough, he donated it to Wigs for Kids. He couldn’t completely get rid of the glasses, but he wore them less on FaceTime. Once he got his haircut and cleaned up his beard, I had to admit… he looked pretty cute now, lol. Meanwhile, he kept showing me how much he cared in small ways. He’d send me surprises in the mail — a Fortnite llama ornament for my Christmas tree, a new mousepad when I needed one. The biggest one? I’ve always loved The Sims 2, but as an adult I didn’t want to buy all the discs again since it wasn’t online. Steven researched and found a way to download all of The Sims 2 plus every expansion pack onto my computer for free. He spent hours setting it up with me over FaceTime, just happy to help me play a game I loved. No one had ever cared enough to even look up what The Sims was, let alone do all that. That’s when I knew: I had to give him a chance. And then there was one of the sweetest little things he did for me almost every morning. We both love rom-com movies, and we always laugh about how “Let My Love Open the Door” seems to play at the end of all of them. Since he always woke up an hour earlier than me, instead of me setting an alarm, he’d play that song on his computer to wake me up. Just about every morning, that’s how my day started — and it really felt like living inside our own rom-com.

Eventually Steven flew to Houston, and we finally met in person. It was even better face-to-face. We only had a weekend together, but when he left, I knew he was my person. We did long distance for over a year, which was tough at times, but we made it work. We were always on FaceTime, always watching shows and movies together through screen share. We got really into 90 Day Fiancé (the Colt and Larissa seasons were our favorite, and we still quote them to this day), Love Island, Love Is Blind, Alone, Chopped, and so many more. Eventually, I quit my Speech Pathology job, and Steven also got laid off from his. We were both job hunting while basically living on FaceTime together all day. At one point, he flew back out to Houston, and we went to see one of his favorite comedians, Adam Ray — and even got to meet him afterward. Seeing Steven’s face light up was one of my favorite memories. I also got to introduce him to my best friends Alyssa and Massimo during that trip. After that, it was another six months before we could see each other again. Luckily, both of our leases were ending around the same time, and we decided, why not just move in together? Steven had already said he’d move anywhere to be with me, and I wasn’t willing to leave Texas or my family. So in June 2024, I flew to Virginia. It took almost a week (plus help from his mom and brother), but we packed up his entire apartment, crammed everything he needed into his tiny car along with his two cats, and made the 24+ hour drive back to Texas. That drive was stressful — car issues, exhaustion, one cat getting sick, the other escaping his carrier (so I had to hold both 14-pound cats in separate carriers in my lap for hours). Somewhere along the way, Steven and I had our very first fight, lol. But once we made it back to my tiny one-bedroom apartment, got cleaned up, and slept, everything was fine again. A week or two later, we moved from Channelview to Spring, Texas, into a two-bedroom apartment where we now live with our three fur babies: Niko, Luna, and our newest, Molly. On June 26, 2025, Steven proposed at sunset on the beach in Florida with the most beautiful ring (that we picked out together, haha). Now we’re both in new careers we love. We push each other to be better every day, especially with health and fitness — we’ve been going to the gym together for over a year now. We’ve seen more scary movies in the past year than I had in my entire life before him. And yes, he finally got new glasses, lol. I can’t wait to start my married life with Steven. He’s my best friend, the most genuine person I’ve ever met, and he always goes above and beyond anything I ever expected in a partner.

I love you, Steven!