We met in May 2012 at a going away party for a mutual friend. You could call it love at first sight. Or, a "pretty quick crush" to quote Maddy. We started dating a little less than a year later after many ice cream nights and movies in the park.

Aedan had dreams of becoming a Duke Blue Devil while Maddy had her sights on the equine science program at Colorado State University. So, our long-distance chapter began.

You could say we became very familiar with airports. Many short visits to Durham introduced Maddy to Heavenly Buffaloes (really good wings), Geer Street (home of the glorious "Pile"), and Ponysaurus (really good beer). Trips to Fort Collins reminded Aedan of the magic of Colorado. We also learned we liked each other. A lot.

After Maddy graduated from CSU, she moved to Durham while Aedan was finishing up his time at Duke. We both fell in love with Durham on nightly walks along the Tobacco Trail, hikes through the Duke Forest, and evenings spent measuring corn at the Duke Campus Farm. Aedan grew corn in the house, okra at the farm, and ran the local trails. Maddy found two cats (the freeloaders), discovered a love for veterinary medicine, and started her journey to vet school. Did you know we both have Durham tattoos?

Aedan moved to Chicago and began working toward a master's in journalism at Northwestern, while Maddy continued to work in Durham. One February night Maddy surprised Aedan and showed up at his apartment in Chicago. She decided then to become a full-time Chicagoan and embrace downtown living. We became completely enamored with Chicago (best city on Earth) and brought back the Roaring '20's, enjoying nights out with friends, dinner in Old Town, and commuting by train. Want to hear a fun story? Ask Maddy about the night of her job interview. If you were wondering, no, you cannot remove burning plastic from a fireplace with a melting Solo cup.

Our time in Chicago went by too fast, but Aedan had to begin life as a journalist. We moved back to Colorado to a place we always dreamed of living—Durango. While Aedan reported on bison ranching, citizen science, and elevator emergencies, Maddy continued working as an emergency and surgical veterinary nurse. Turns out Durango wasn't our jam, but we did enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, and crisp nights at the Nugget Mountain Bar.

Maddy's path to vet school was coming more into focus, so we left Durango and moved to Fort Collins where Maddy started a master's in toxicology. Just as we thought our time with long distance was over, life changed and Aedan became the education and health reporter at the Casper Star-Tribune. Both Fort Collins and Casper became second homes for us. Fort Collins was our first (and only) venture commuting and working in the same space together. It was Casper where we picked up America's greatest pastime: floating rivers with a case of Coors.

We moved back to Denver in December 2023. Aedan now works downtown as a communications manager and Maddy works in Boulder as an emergency veterinary nurse. She started her first semester of vet school in August! We've enjoyed reconnecting with our families and reassembling our own little family—River and our two cats. And we have been taking advantage of being back in Colorado. We spend nearly every waking moment outside in the mountains fly fishing, hiking, and camping. In some cases, that's led to new experiences like waking up to a collapsing tent and 3 inches of snow. Or packing exquisite meals but no gas for the cooking stove. We love every bit of it, even the frostbite. We swear.

We planned a long weekend away in Pine, CO in March 2024. A snowstorm rolled in the day before, but the plan stayed. Maddy was less than keen, worrying about the freezing cold. But Aedan insisted. We parked along an unplowed road, strapped our snowshoes on, and trekked into Pike National Forest while River happily bounded through 3 feet of snow. After walking along a Forest Service road, we hiked into the forest to a point overlooking the surrounding mountains. Aedan knelt down and proposed! Maddy asked Aedan to put the ring on her finger. He promptly responded, "I'll let you do that. I haven't insured the ring yet and I'd prefer to not be the one who loses it in the snow."

We're looking forward to seeing you all, and we can't wait for what's ahead of us! Queue the music!