Ryan's side of the story: when he moved to Fort Collins for grad school in 2015, his coworker Tess asked him if he wanted to go on a camping trip to climb a mountain. He likes being outside so he went. Annette's side of the story: Tess, Krista, and Annette had been friends in Colorado for a while. One evening in September, the three ladies had a few beers and started gossiping about school, adventures, and Annette's love life. With a gleam in her eye, Tess told Annette "I have a new office-mate this year. He's pretty cute and he seems nice. I think you should meet him! Come camping with us this weekend!" Tess urged. She had high hopes for this match. Annette, mostly excited about friends, lazy campfires, and a day hike or two, eagerly agreed. The weekend: Turns out, a weekend camping trip with Tess & Co. means summiting the two tallest peaks in Colorado back to back. "She's cute," Ryan thought when they met in his driveway. "Don't be creepy," Annette told herself. After awkwardly not talking in the car on the drive, Annette chased him up both mountains and they managed not to talk very much at all. However, they both discovered that they love brussels sprouts.

About a week after the trip, Annette was teetering on the decision to ask Ryan out. Tess, in a characteristically helpful mood, gave Annette Ryan’s phone number. Annette finally decided not to wait for a shy engineer to ask her out and suggested getting beers in town. After taking far too long to reply, Ryan excitedly said “Ya!” They both showed up on bikes and passed the mutual first test: wearing helmets. They managed to talk quite a bit, particularly after Ryan passed test two (he likes cats). There was no delay in setting up a second date.

Three and a half years later, Ryan and Annette knew they wanted to get married. After proddings from impatient family members, new jobs, and a new state, Ryan knew it was time to propose. He had a plan. Annette was visiting during a temporary long-distance streak, and they were both excited to go on a mountain bike ride. Ryan likes Annette. He likes mountain bikes. He was pretty sure he could sprint ahead on his bike, hold out a ring in the middle of the trail, and hope not to get run over by Annette. There was just one small hiccup. On the first day of the visit, Ryan ended up in Urgent Care with the flu. The real flu. And there was no mountain biking to be done. Undaunted, the mostly-bedridden Ryan suggested a gentle stroll around the the Weiss Family garden on April 17, 2019. Standing amidst the tulips, looking out over the mountains, Ryan got down on one knee.