Us

The first time we met was a brief encounter at Jannus Live for Surfrider’s, a non profit organization, “Make Waves” fundraiser. Soon after, we became ‘digital friends’, sharing several mutual friends. We moved in similar circles, but the timing was not in the cards for either of us. Fast forward 4 months and we connected on a dating app. We buzzed into each other’s hive and it was smooth as honey. Our first date at Bandit Coffee was a natural ebb and flow; we shared common interests including: community involvement, travel, cuisine, coffee, wine, local events, discussion of current events and our experiences of heartache and personal growth. In less than a year, we had traveled to New York, Miami, Philidelphia, Ottawa, Delray Beach, and El Salvador — more since then.

The Proposal

After camping in the Great Sand Dunes desert for a night, we decided to take it up a notch and hike into the the Rocky Mountains for some primitive camping. Rocky Mountain National Park’s Dream Lake was the destination point for Ryan’s proposal, but after gaining over a thousand feet in elevation, and traversing over multiple miles, switchbacking up the mountainside with loaded packs to our campsite, we ended up collapsing at our site, falling asleep, and then stumbling, somehwhat serendipitously, upon a beautiful meadow on the outskirts of our home-for-the-night. Ryan magically captured the moments on his remote from his camera to his phone. It was a surreal, unexpected, and special moment shared by just us…no one else for miles.

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