Erika and Mark Simonds: Faced with a ‘slow-mover,’ she popped the question

Like many young professionals in Spokane, Erika and Mark Simonds knew each other and moved in the same social circles long before their first date.

When Mark heard of a job opening in his building, he recommended Erika for the position.

“Then he started stopping by and hanging out on lunch hours,” Erika said.

He was divorced and her serious relationship was ending, but Mark didn’t ask her out, despite all the time they spent together.

It took seeing her with another guy at an event to jolt him into awareness.

“I asked her, ‘Did I miss my window?’” he recalled. “And she said yes.”

He smiled and shrugged. “I was probably a little gun shy.”

He was also undaunted. They continued to hang out and then he asked her if she wanted to go on a trip to Seattle with him. She agreed.

That night before they were going to leave she came home to a paralyzed cat.

“I didn’t have a car, so I called Mark. He took me to the emergency pet clinic.”

Sadly, the news was dire. Monk, her cat, had to be put down.

“Mark was so kind,” said Erika. “He encouraged me to call my ex because we’d raised Monk together. The three of us had a mini wake. It could have been really awkward, but it wasn’t.”

That was in 2014 and they starting dating after that weekend.

“I’m not a slow mover in relationships,” Erika said.

“I am,” said Mark.

She laughed.

“I’m very frank and up front,” she said.

“I’m not,” he said.

So, Erika took her fate into her own hands and popped the question.

“We’d been dating a year at that point,” she said. “I knew it was true love at the vet that night. I was waiting for this guy to propose to me, but he needed to know that I wanted to be with him, so I just asked him in conversation, ‘Will you marry me?’”

In their downtown condo Mark smiled at his bride.

“That’s not to say I wouldn’t have done it – it would have just taken me a lot longer.”

They continued their conversation and 10 minutes later, Mark said yes.

They decided not to tell anyone right away, but Erika let it slip to the barista at Saranac Commons, and when they walked in for coffee the chalkboard read “Congratulations Erika and Mark!”

They ended up making their engagement official via Facebook.

On May 26, the couple married at Overbluff Cellars in the Washington Cracker Co. Building downtown. Erika now works at Spark Central and as a freelance writer, while Mark works as a web developer at Zaycon Fresh.

Married life has been a fairly smooth transition for them.

“We’ve been friends so long,” Erika explained.

Mark is 44 and Erika 33, but the gap in their ages hasn’t caused any problems.

“It doesn’t come up except for in pop culture things,” said Erika.

“Well, and I might want to call it a night earlier, but that might just be a preference,” Mark said.

While they share progressive sensibilities, marriage was important to them.

“Marriage is a level of commitment,” said Mark.

For Erika, their vows made her less inclined to argue about “small stuff.”

“It just doesn’t seem to matter in the long run,” she said.

She appreciates how affectionate her partner is.

“It was unexpected,” she said. “And I love how curious he is. Our conversations are so interesting.”

For his part Mark said, “Erika is extremely loving – it’s limitless.

They look toward their future together with excitement.

“We got a bunch of camping gear for our wedding,” said Erika. “We want to do lots of camping.”

But mostly as the years go by, they anticipate being each other’s biggest cheerleaders.

Mark said, “We’re looking forward to being supportive of each other’s dreams and encouraging each other to pursue them.”