We are fizzing about making it official. Come help celebrate our union!

From Amy: In the spring of 2016 I ran across Rich's mountain-filled Instagram chock full of gorgeous mountain shots. I had been DYING—DYING—to backpack the John Muir Trail or get deep in the Sierra Nevada- a range I had never been in the summer. Apparently the outdoors and this region was his playground. Clues on his Instagram revealed he worked at Cal Poly, so after some investigating (brandishing my investigative journalist skills) I discovered his real name and that we had mutual connections. I then serendipitously ran across an old post of his, where he recently commented he would be on the John Muir Trail that summer! Without hesitating, I boldly inserted myself into the conversation, and asked if he would take me. He had no idea who I was. Of course he couldn’t take me (he was guiding the trip for his clients), but we began a few back and forth about potential hikes and the possibility of going surfing, which we never did. In fact, I never really heard from him again (he had a girlfriend), until I pinged him weeks later about sending me details of a Sierra hike he had mentioned I should do as my intro to the area. He was kind enough to email detailed directions and maps for an easy Sierra Nevada hike I took that fall with the wrong person (ahem, ex-boyfriend). A month after that backpacking mishap, perhaps by serendipity, Rich and I randomly passed each other on the sidewalk, and HE boldly stopped me and asked if I was Amy. We’d never met. None of our friends ever introduced us. He just simply recognized me from Instagram. So we sat down and chatted over a muffin or two or three...

From Rich: I remember feeling really taken aback by Amy. I stopped her and said, "Are you Amy? I'm Rich." After the surprise of my hello had worn off, I asked her where she was headed, hoping she might come have a cup of coffee with me. Turns out she was headed to the very coffee shop where I had parked my stuff minutes earlier at a table to grade undergraduate essays. She was simply hankering for something sweet to eat. We sat with our fresh-baked pastry, and talked for nearly three hours, though she had to get back to work and I had to grade. She mesmerized me. I knew I had to get to know her more. I asked for her phone number (she gave me her business card ;) and I went to campus to prep for my classes that day. Before I walked to my office, however, I stopped by to see a friend and told her what had just happened. And I remember saying to her, "I feel like I was just on a date!" The remainder of that day, I tried hard to focus on my lectures. But my mind kept drifting back to that time with Amy. We had our first date that Wednesday. Surfing. Something we both love to do. After some live music, dancing and a few other dates, we knew quickly that we had each found our person. In fact, she had written in her journal 12 days into it that she was going to marry me. A couple months later, I proposed to Amy in Durango on Christmas Eve. I had been carrying the ring in my pocket for a couple days, burning a hole, wondering where and when I would ask. So, I could hardly contain myself. I knew that she was the woman whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life. And to my joy...she said 'Yes!, ( in my truck after a muddy hike up a mountain, where she had just teased me—the mountain guide—about not owning a pair of hiking boots.)