Despite growing up living parallel lives in Portland, Abbie and Angelo first met when they were 23 on a Bumble 1st date at Double Mountain brewery in Hood River. Abbie pretty quickly started a note in her phone titled “HR Boy,” with the sub section “ven diagram” to document their parallel lives. The ven diagram list included broad things like: birthdays (June 1996, 4 days apart, Gemini), grew up in Portland, weekends in Hood River, and more specific overlap: appendectomy in 3rd grade, learned to drive on the Alvord desert, no braces, attended Dads’ cyclocross races, popcorn = favorite nighttime snack, same unique summer camps (OMS animation, windsurfing at the Hook). After a promising first two dates, their relationship was rudely derailed by a global pandemic. 2 week lockdown turned into 2 months, and their Covid “bubbles” drifted farther apart. Despite the circumstantial fizzle out, Abbie and Angelo kept tabs on each other through social media. Two years of story hearts and “wow sick!” later, Angelo finally slid into the DMs with a concrete proposal: Ski Illumination tomorrow? Abbie immediately agreed, and the next day they had their second first date ski touring up Palmer glacier for sunset. The Sunday Palmer ski marked the beginning of standing Sunday dates. Angelo was in the height of Tax Season, yet he didn’t think twice about spending his day off with Abbie. Sundays together turned into weekends together, and eventually the very virus that pulled them apart in 2020 promoted their first week together at Yamhill Manor “Camp Covid.” This was the first time the two spent extended time together, and amount of fun they had while sick, crafting, and playing Azul in the apartment prompted Abbie and Angelo to book tickets to Portugal for their first big trip together. Abbie and Angelo continued enjoying the perks of their MDR (mid distance relationship) in both Portland and Hood River. They adventured together on weekends, went on some epic trips around the world, and started to daydream about merging their lives and moving in together. They agreed Portland made the most sense for their next step (Abbie’s job was in person, Angelo’s remote), but didn’t rule out Hood River for down the road… Surprise! In a bit of an unexpected string of events, they skipped the city apartment step, bought a house in Hood River, and eventually both accepted local in-person jobs in the Columbia Gorge. Embracing life together quickly led to a Mt Adams summit proposal, and they are so happy to celebrate with you Sept 6, 2026!