Let’s go all the way back to Saturday, May 7, 2016. Chelsea decides to go to The Games Room at the Sticky Wicket, in Victoria, BC, with her friend Kelsie to play darts to kill some time ahead of a friend’s barbeque. Chelsea and Kelsie never go out downtown, they’re just too busy. But, they happen to have some free time that evening. Chelsea and Kelsie arrive at The Games Room. Oh no! All the dart boards are taken. They’ll just grab a drink at the empty bar then. As they are being served their drinks at the bar, a nice looking man approaches them and asks them what they are drinking. “Bitch pop!” Kelsie replies. The man says, “Oh, I was just about to order the same thing, but maybe I won’t.” He introduces himself. “I’m Robbie. What brings you both here?” Chelsea and Kelsie explain that they wanted to play darts for a couple of hours before heading to a friend’s barbeque, but that all of the dart boards are currently taken. Robbie invites them to join him and his friends who already have a couple of dart boards. The girls accept the invitation and follow him upstairs.
Upon reaching the dart board area on the second floor, Robbie brings Chelsea and Kelsie over to his group of friends. A tall, dark, and handsome man introduces himself. “I’m Ty.” Chelsea and Ty partner up to play darts. After some initial back and forth conversation, they realize they both went to Oak Bay High School, but were never there at the same time due to their six year age gap. Chelsea asks her make-it-or-break-it question to Ty: “Did you play rugby at Oak Bay?” Ty successfully passes the test: “Yeah, I did.” They continue to get to know each other. Chelsea learns that Ty is in the beginning phases of starting his own business. Ty learns that Chelsea is in her final semester of Business School at the University of Victoria. They bond over their plans to celebrate their moms for Mother’s Day that weekend. Fast forward a few hours: Chelsea and Kelsie don’t make it to their friend’s barbeque. They continue to play darts and chat with this lovely group of guys. As it nears midnight, Chelsea, Kelsie and the group of guys get ready to leave. Ty asks for Chelsea’s number. She gives her number to him. Chelsea and Kelsie say goodnight to the group.
Meet-Cute: Saturday, May 7, 2016
It’s Sunday morning. Ty sends a text to Chelsea that says it was nice talking with her and meeting her last night. Chelsea responds that it was also nice chatting with Ty and getting to know him. A few hours later, Chelsea gets another text. Ty says that his get together with his mom ended earlier than planned and asks if she would like to go to Willows Beach. Chelsea says yes. Ty picks her up, and they drive down to the beach where they spend a couple of hours together. Ty initiates their first kiss, successfully passing another one of Chelsea’s tests. He asks if she would like to go for dinner. She says yes. They go to 5th Street Bar and Grill and enjoy a nice dinner together. Following dinner, Ty asks if Chelsea would like to go for a swim at Oak Bay Rec Centre. Chelsea says yes, she would. They go to Oak Bay Rec Centre and enjoy a nice swim and hot tub (an activity that only Oak Bay alums could fully appreciate). Following their swim, Ty drops Chelsea off at her mom’s place where she is living. Chelsea comes in and tells her mom: “I just had an amazing first date with the nicest guy. He’s the kind of guy I could see myself marrying.”
First Date: Sunday, May 8, 2016
Chelsea and Ty lived a real-life country music video during their first few years of dating. Ty became a full-fledged farmer, kicking off his farming career growing microgreens and salad greens on a quarter acre plot of land in West Saanich in 2016, with Chelsea by his side when she wasn’t studying or working in her new role with the BC Public Service. When they had free time, Chelsea and Ty could be found driving down West Saanich Road in Ty’s F150 listening to country music, or at Durrance Lake on a floatie, or grabbing an ice cream cone at Red Barn Market. They also attended their first of many concerts together during their initial years of dating, seeing Dierks Bentley (in 2017) and Eric Church and Midland (in 2018) at Sunfest in the Cowichan Valley. Like true Oak Bay alums, you could also find them making frequent trips to the gym and pool at Oak Bay Rec Centre (couples who work out together, stay together), and to Willows Beach for some sunshine and fresh air.
Initial Years Together: 2016-2018
In March of 2019, Chelsea and Ty managed to make time for their first vacation away together. Trust them to find a way to turn a vacation into a business trip of some kind though, right? Their last day in Tofino turned into a product photo shoot featuring a paddle board, USA edition, which would later be sold through their Amazon.com side venture. Chelsea and Ty enjoyed their time in Tofino so much that they managed to fit in another business trip later that year, this time to Kauai and Maui, to visit two hydroponic farms. The cherry on top? Checking off an item from both of their bucket lists: staying at the Grand Wailea in Maui for a steal of a deal at $218 USD per night. Got to love those pre-COVID prices. Chelsea and Ty ended off 2019 with fully transitioning their apartment dining room into an at-home gym, squat rack and all, which unbeknown to them at the time, would come into great use when a full-blown pandemic hit a few months later.
During the pandemic, Chelsea and Ty’s lives didn’t change too, too drastically (thankfully). Ty continued to farm 7 days per week, 11 months of the year, and Chelsea continued to work for the BC Public Service, with a shift to working from home full-time (yay). Chelsea and Ty got through the pandemic rewatching Seinfeld for the millionth time, playing video games together on their Switch, and watching dozens of movies together. They officially ended their non-stop-quarantining-at-home lifestyle in March 2022 with a trip to Toronto to see Justin Bieber in concert for Chelsea’s 30th birthday. Ty still has hearing loss from enduring the high-pitched screams of 20,000 girls in Scotiabank Arena for two hours. They also got COVID for the first time following that trip. Worth it to see the Biebs. The 2022 year ended with Chelsea’s left hand a bit sparklier. Ty proposed to Chelsea on Christmas Day, sneaking an engagement ring into her stocking, much to her surprise!
Travels, a Pandemic, and a Proposal: 2019-2022
2023 has been Chelsea and Ty’s best (and busiest) year yet. After many years of hard work and dedication, they were able to secure a Young Farmer Loan through Farm Credit Canada to buy a farm in North Saanich that they can call their forever home. They look forward to welcoming their family and friends to the property in 2024, where they will join in marriage in their private meadow – a magical spot that made them fall in love with the property as soon as they saw it!