DOS GRINGOS FALL IN LOVE

The two characters in the headline are Arizona’s own Kim Bauer and Bill Bauer. Their shared life began one warm July evening in 2013. Fate put them both at the same time in the same place. 

The place? Dos Gringos, in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona. The two weren’t out on a date. Not yet. But Bill’s friend Walt offered to buy Kim and her cousin drinks, and Kim met Bill. 

By the end of that evening, their first date was planned. Bill and Kim decided to go see a movie. Grown Ups 2 – remember that one? Neither do they. The couple left halfway through the movie. 

That was a great decision. Not because the movie had an 8 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The date got a perfect score on the Love Meter.

“We left the movie, but we never left each other after that,” says Bill. 

That night changed his life, Bill remembers. The two would end up not just dos amigos, but dos amantes. Love? Yes, Bill tells us. “I told her I loved her by the 22nd day.” 

What made Bill fall for Kim? When asked, he easily compiles a list, with “her butt” on it twice.

Kim is selfless, always putting others ahead of herself. She’s easy-going and agreeable. She works to make every occasion special, from birthdays to holidays to sporting events. 

Bill found a one-of-a-kind treasure in Kim. He gives much deserved credit to her parents, Mark and Marcia Makings. They helped make their youngest daughter the only person he wanted to come home to. 

It was as simple, he explains, as imagining a future without her versus the future side-by-side with her. Easy choice. Bill is still a little shook that she chose him as well. 

Kim and Bill were married in October 2014 after his “random proposal” one day after school. Kim teaches fifth graders at Boulder Creek in Phoenix. It wasn’t long before she and Bill would mold young minds of their own. 

Those would be Brody, nearly 9 years old, Carson (6), and 5-year old Mason. With them, Kim adds “amazing mother” to her resume. She is their best friend, always helping them be their best and happiest selves. 

Kim’s reported superpower? Translating kids slang! It’s obvious that her children and her students are in the best of hands. 

Those hands are never idle. Kim enjoys working out, listening to murder mystery podcasts, and planning special events for the entire family. She makes every day special for all of the Bauers. 

Bill enjoys quiet time spent with Kim coloring together or watching anything from The Office back in the day to Love is Blind, or even bringing it back to Catfish. Netflix will never get canceled.

Often, though, the whole Bauer gang is off on an adventure that Kim has planned for them. Trips to San Diego, Michigan, and the Great Wolf Lodge are some of the travel highlights. 

Kim is the kind of person, Bill tells us, that inspires him to be his very best. “My life is committed to making her proud of her husband; her friend; the father of her children. She is my ‘Why’ when I’m trying to do my best.” 

Bill’s message to Kim on this Valentine’s Day is: “I will always love you; always fight for you and for us! From ‘Starvin Marvin’ to a Stuffy Buffy.’”

Whatever the exact meaning, it most certainly translates as LOVE.