Nearing the end of her time as an undergraduate at Penn State and needing some extra spending money, Rocki accepted a position at the local Bank of America call center. On her first day, she spotted Lance, with his diamond stud earrings and a smile that could light up a room. She thought to herself, "I hope I get to work with him!"



Fate placed Rocki onto Lance's team and a platonic relationship started. Lance had a girlfriend after all, and always kept things professional. Rocki's career as a telemarketer was short-lived as she blew each paycheck Thursday nights at LuLus listening to Velveeta and soaking up the sun at Cafe 210. She resigned 3 months later, despite Lance’s efforts to keep her on the team through the summer. It was time to graduate and head to law school in San Diego. The two exchanged contact info and promised to stay in touch.



And that they did. Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas text messages were exchanged for 5 years. Then, in advance of a business trip to San Diego, Lance remembered that Rocki had gone to law school there and thought she was still in the city. He asked if she'd like to grab dinner one of the nights he'd be in town. She agreed and the night was full of great conversation and laughter. Struck by each other's stunning looks and grown-up personalities, they made plans to meet up for Lance’s next west coast business trip to Las Vegas. The two had a great weekend where things escalated from platonic, and let's just say what happened in Vegas didn't stay there. Lance booked a flight to San Diego a few weeks later and the two hit it off like love birds. But, Lance, living in Delaware at the time, was stubborn and refused to get into another long-distance relationship.



Despite not being in a relationship, Rocki and Lance continued to run into each other. Call it divine intervention with some human influence. Individually, with separate groups of friends, they kept picking the same Penn State games to go to each year. Rocki also took a chance and discovered one of Lance's hidden talents as a great wedding +1, a role he played 5 times in 4 years. At every wedding, they were the couple everyone noticed. Seriously, no one could tell that they were "just friends." Lance always said, "If God makes the stars align and puts us in the same city while single, we'll take this thing to the next level.” It was time to accept divine intervention.



God might have had something to do with Uber sending Lance to San Francisco on frequent business trips, where Rocki had moved a couple years earlier with T-Mobile. Combined with annual Penn State bowl games, a few visits to Disney, and a couple of Rocki's business trips to Chicago, they spent a lot of time together despite living in different cities. It was apparent "just friends" would not be enough for these two. Lance finally got the hint and applied for a new job to move to SF, over 10 years after they first met. They went on their first official date on May 14, 2019 at the Stinking Rose, of all places.



Their love truly bloomed in San Francisco. While the pandemic was a difficult time for most, Rocki and Lance were brought closer together. In September, Lance and Rocki planned a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate a friend’s birthday. As a surprise to Rocki, Lance took her on a romantic date where he got down on one knee in front of the Bellagio Fountains and asked her to marry him. Rocki said “Yes” and now they cannot wait to share the beginning of their life together with all of you in Punta Mita, Mexico!