mawwaige, that bwessed awangement

Ali and Anthony (also known as Tony) met during Ali's freshman year of college, where they shared the same major and, therefore, group of friends. Ali thinks that the first time they met was at a cast party for Anthony's show A Few Good Men. Anthony thinks that the first time they met was when he was DD'ing for a drunk showing of Jurassic Park (which Ali was totally, definitely sober for, mom and dad). Around January of 2012, Ali decided that she liked Tony and began secretly wooing him with Great Harvest bread and talk of how much she loved roller coasters and hiking. One day she plucked up the courage to invite him to lunch at Noodles and Co. It was a little awkward, but not as bad as either of them thought it would be. On their first date, Tony picked Ali up at her parents' apartment. He did not come in to say hi to her parents, for which they may still be mad at him. They had a lovely meal at Austin's in Old Town Fort Collins, after which Tony surprised Ali with swing dancing lessons. Later that night, after wandering around Old Town, they shared their first kiss at a playground near the public library. The rest, as they say, is awesome history.

Anthony doesn't remember exactly when he decided he wanted to marry Ali, but he does know that he had been thinking about it for a while. He planned a romantic weekend away in Winter Park, CO, a ski area and mountain town that holds a special place in his heart, and a love of which he had shared with Ali. They took the ski train up to the mountain on the morning of Saturday, January 14, 2017, where he booked a room at the Winter Park Chateau B&B for the holiday weekend. That night, Anthony surprised Ali with dinner reservations at the Sunspot Lodge at the summit of Winter Park Resort. They rode the gondola up the mountain and enjoyed a wonderful 5-course dinner together in the lodge. After tipping off the waitress and hostess of his plan to propose, Anthony and Ali took their seats to enjoy their meal. Unbeknownst to Anthony at the time, Ali had been warned by a drunk but well-meaning friend some months ago that Anthony had been thinking of proposing. As the night wore on, she had become more and more sure that he was going to do it, but every minute that it didn't happen made her more anxious. She had so many butterflies in her stomach that by the time their entrée came around at course 4, she could barely eat. She was more than happy to oblige his suggestion that they take a walk to "digest" before dessert. As Ali walked outside looking at the stars, she turned around to find Anthony down on one knee in the snow. He gracefully declared his love for her (with a 100% totally prepared, not improvised at all speech), and asked her to marry him. He presented her with an engagement ring that had belonged to his grandmother, Mary Vessels. Ali, of course, said yes. They were greeted back in the lodge with glasses of champagne and applause from the other patrons, newly engaged and more in love than ever.