Whitefish is tiny tiny. Everyone knows everyone. I've know Andy & Kristine since 2005 and If I'd just listened to Andy, Zak and I would've been together for over 10 years now! (There's a lesson there somewhere.) At any rate, here's how we finally got together... Way back when I worked for Glacier Restaurant Group, Zak was a last minute replacement (read: ringer) on our golf team over Memorial Day weekend 2014. The slowest moving tournament in the history of Whitefish Lake Golf Course, at 4 hours in and only through the 9th hole, our flirtation level was at an 11 (just ask Brown and Clare). After a week of frustrating hesitation on his part, I finally talked him into dating me and we've been together ever since.

Little did Aaron know that I had been meeting for weeks in secret with a local jeweler. No joke. Keeping a secret in a small town is a difficult task and I eased my burden by confiding in the one person I knew wouldn't blab, Aidan the Akita. I knew that Aaron would surely, if not immediately, sniff out the proposal if I tried any cliche proposal attempts. We were working opposite schedules and it was the busiest time of year so it was a big challenge to pop the question in both a timely and unique way. That being said I really wanted to surprise Aaron so I enlisted the help of my furry confidant. It was morning on a beautiful sunny day and I had run out for coffee, as I often do, taking Aidan with me for the ride. Upon return I tied the engagement ring to Aidan's collar and when we walked into the house I complained loudly that "the dog got into the cockleburs again! Aaron you've got to help me, there are some really big thorny ones in her neck!" Aidan was notorious for getting burrs stuck in her fur. Aaron swooped down like a good mother investigating Aidan's neck intently but instead of nasty burrs she discovered the ring. "What's this?! Wait, what the hell is this?! Hold on.... Is this for me?" "Only if you say yes," I said. The rest is history.