Meet Joel and Samantha.
Treefort Music Fest connected these two. From a Facebook add to a first date, Treefort is the backdrop to Joel & Samantha’s #LoveInTheBOI story.
How did you two meet?
I had just moved to town and was a music journalist looking to make music scene connections in Boise. As such, I was told I should add all of the Facebook friends of some of the Treefort organizers to gain connections! One of them happened to be Joel.
Three days before we started talking, my best friend passed away and my long distance boyfriend of two years dumped me via email (same day). I was heartbroken and needed someone but was new to the city and wasn't sure who I could actually talk to and trust. That's when Joel appeared in my life in a completely random way.
Although, I honestly believe the universe gave me this amazing friendship and relationship to help me heal in the most beautiful way possible. He asked if he knew me so I told him my name and he told me his via Facebook messenger and then I said, "There, now you know me." After that, we chatted for a while and I told him to send me a picture of him looking 'hot'. That's when he sent me the photo of him doing a duckface into the camera. I turned to my dad at that very moment and said, "I swear to you, I'm going to marry this guy." Six years later, and we just celebrated our one year wedding anniversary.
Describe Your FIrst Date
It took about a year for us to realize we really needed to stop kidding ourselves and get together. That's why, for our first date, we covered Treefort together as a team representing our successful local music magazine, Boise Pulse. It was a whirlwind of chaos and silliness but, the whole time, we went from being friends to truly falling in love with each other. By the end of it, there was no denying that we actually needed to date and not just be best friends any more!
What are you favorite local things to do & places to go?
We have a few favorite things to do: We LOVE going to the Spacebar and Grinker's because they both also let us show our nerdy sides! We also quite often get the Groupon to Asiago's in downtown when we have a birthday or anniversary. It's kind of our little date spot for sure. On top of that, we love to see live shows in downtown, especially for local bands, and we also hike all over from Camel's Back to Jumpcreek Falls to Seaman's Gulch, and everything and anything in between! We truly enjoy where we live because it allows us to have all of our hobbies and interests available at once!
What is one word of advice you have to those who are still in search of love
Hopefully this doesn't come out as corny but, really, love isn't something that happens overnight and, at least in my case, what started as a beautiful and long-lasting friendship led to a relationship that truly feels like I get to spend every single day with the coolest person on the planet! With that being said, my word of advice is truly to stop looking for the 'perfect' boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife and just let fate run its course. You never know— the person you call your best friend could very well become the love of your life!
Make sure to follow these two love birds at @twolosersjourney. Thank you Joel & Samantha for sharing your #LoveInTheBOI story!