We met through mutual friends in Burlington, VT. Dani was traveling up for work frequently, and started to stay for the weekends to join Nate and our other friends snowboarding, hiking, and enjoying the Burlington area!

During the first year of our relationship, we dated long distance. Luckily for us, it was only a three and a half hour drive. We started a weekly long distance tradition - Summer Tuesday Lake Nights. Every week on Tuesday after work, we each would drive to Nate's family's lake property in New Hampshire for the night. We'd each bring something for dinner, and would swim, fish, kayak, and just relax off the grid for a night. That's where we really got to know each other and could spend quality time for just us. During the winter of 2019, Nate planned a weekend for us and Reggie up at the lake. Dani had a particularly stressful week and was thrilled to get up to our spot again to relax for the weekend. We kept the wood stove going, played countless rounds of cribbage, and romped around with Reggie on the frozen lake. Saturday morning we packed sandwiches and hiked up the mountain on the side of the lake. Once we got to a clearing at the top, Nate took Dani's hand and knelt down and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. She tackled him into the snow and screamed "YES!" and the rest was history.

After multiple postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, we decided to have a small ceremony doing one of the things that we love best - backpacking! After moving to the greater Seattle area and buying our first home, we planned a trip with four of our friends, including Josh (who got ordained to do our original ceremony in June 2020). The six of us and two dogs hiked 11 miles into Spectacle Lake in central Washington with our camping gear, the rings, Nate's camera, champagne, whiskey, some flowers, and a ton of food. The next day, July 17th, we packed light backpacks and hiked a couple miles up to the ridge line. Emily, Colette, and Brian took some photographs on phones and Nate's camera while Josh performed a short ceremony. We celebrated, hiked back down to camp, celebrated some more, swam in the lake, and hiked the 11 miles back to our cars the next day. Emily made us some cute signs for our backpacks, "Just" and "Married", and we got several compliments and congrats from fellow hikers during our trip. While it wasn't what we originally planned, the weekend was perfect for us, especially after the year we've all had. The trip was full of love, beautiful weather, some of our favorite activities, all with our family and friends in our hearts. We're so thrilled to have tied the knot, and can't wait to celebrate with all of you!