Christian & Gabrielle

Our Story

We met on November 25, 2025 on a snowy night in downtown Ottawa. The cafe we were going to go to was doing an open mike night, so we couldn't get a table. We went down the street to a Pour Boy, an artsy dive bar. It was almost empty and there was a guy yelling from a balcony across the street. We sat in a corner table and chatted. I was really shy because Gabi is super pretty. Eventually I opened up more, and as we were saying bye I asked Gabi if I could see her again she asked what kind of relationship I was looking for. I hadn't expected the question and stuttered out an answer, then asked her the same question back. She just stared me in the eyes and said "oh, I'm dating for marriage". I texted her that night saying that I appreciated her confidence and honesty, and that's what I was looking for too. We saw each other the next week, and every week after. Eventually I started staying over, but I worked almost two hours from Gabi's apartment, and started at 7, so I'd wake up at 4. While she was still living in Ottawa we went snowboarding, made 300 buttertarts for the Glebe garage sale, went skating on the canal, played pool, and had lots of other adventures/dates. While going on our adventures, we discovered that our values are incredibly similar, and our areas of interests, while not identical, parallel each other. Most importantly, we learned that we share a willingness to try new things, get out of our comfort zones, and learn and grow together.

I was madly in love, so after 4 months I asked if hypothetically she'd want to move in. After 6 months she moved in with me in Carleton Place. That summer we went on our first backcountry camping trip together, and while we were out there we got stuck in the biggest thunderstorm of our lives. We were on an island and couldn't see shore. We were surrounded by thunder and lightning. The waves were 4 feet tall, our tarp blew over and our tent almost blew away. We were huddled together in a hole, trying not to get hit by a tree. During that trip, we decided we could get through anything together.

We've enjoyed every adventure, and relationship milestone, and are excited to see where the future takes us!
Cheers,
Christian and Gabi