Our story began in 2014. We were both visiting home from Gonzaga. Karl and his friend and groomsman Ty were hiking in North Bend. Aspen, some family members and her friend/bridesmaid Haley were not too far behind. It was a rain-free morning so we were happy to be outside! When we got to the top, Aspen spotted Karl and Ty stretching, smiled and walked to the ledge with Haley not thinking much of it at the time. A few minutes later Karl took a photo of the ladies and Aspen's Aunt Leigh snapped one of the guys. As they were headed out Leigh said, "Ooh he's cute, Aspen!" Leigh was always trying to set Aspen up. Aspen said, "Don't even think about it." She had recognized Karl from school after getting a closer look and was not up for the humiliation when returning to campus. As Karl and Ty ran down the mountain past the ladies Leigh shouted, "Her name is Aspen Edwards! Look her up on Facebook!" Aspen was mortified and hoped Karl hadn't heard her. That night Aspen received a Facebook message. It was Karl! "Beautiful day for a hike huh? Go Zags!" Aspen was embarrassed and felt like she needed to address her aunt, "It sure was! I apologize for my aunt. She is always trying to embarrass me! Go Zags!"

We continued to talk throughout break. Once we returned to school we started noticing each other all over campus. We got together for coffee and realized we had a lot in common including our passion for the outdoors, faith, teaching and reading. Karl was a year older and as spring arrived, he shared his plans to move to Port Angeles to begin his teaching and coaching career. Aspen tried to shove aside any hopes for a romantic relationship knowing that Karl would be 7 hours away. We stayed in touch through the phone and snail mail. We'd exchange books, teaching stories and photos of the outdoors. When Karl was in town we would get together. The two of us connected several times in Leavenworth during our summers off. In 2017, we got together for dinner. Later that night we were stargazing and Karl kissed Aspen on the forehead. Aspen thought she made it all up in her head. We decided it was getting late and we better head for bed. Karl laid in bed that night feeling rejected while Aspen laid in bed thinking about what she thought she had imagined. We continued to grow in our friendship. A month later Aspen and her new pup Sawyer visited Karl in Port Angeles. We had a blast hiking, fishing, cooking and exploring. When our time came to an end, we started to feel sad and would start planning the next visit. This time we planned a trip to Maui. We planned to visit Karl's best man Randy and his girlfriend Summer. We rented a van and had a blast exploring the island. One morning Summer asked Aspen, "Are you and Karl dating?" Aspen responded with, "No we're just friends I think." Shocked, Summer said "You think? You probably should figure that one out." Days after returning from Maui, Karl called Aspen to share his feelings and we began to long-distance date shortly after.

We loved dating! At times long distance dating was hard but we continued to plan adventures and trips to see one another. We'd often meet in the middle in the sweet town of North Bend, WA where our whole story began (thank you again, Aunt Leigh). Aspen loved watching Karl pursue his passion of coaching. As she fell harder for Karl, so did her sweet pup Sawyer. We began plotting how to get Aspen a job in Port Angeles or Karl a job in Spokane. After months of no luck in Spokane and realizing Port Angeles didn't have the necessary healthcare Aspen required, we started looking in North Bend. Aspen's landed a great job at Mt. Si High School and shortly after Karl accepted a job in Issaquah. We moved to the special town of North Bend, not too far from where we first met. Karl was able to transfer to Mt. Si High School. Getting to do life together in the same community was sweet. Life together made sense and drew us closer to the Lord and one another. We were confident that being together was God's plan for us both and started talking and getting excited about what our forever would look like together. 2020 brought many twists and turns but we continued to draw closer to Christ and one another, full of peace and confidence each step of the way.

Summer of 2020 was full of adventure. One highlight of our year was getting a van and turning it into a camper. We van camped throughout Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming and loved every moment together! The week before returning to teaching, we had one last van trip to Orcas Island planned where our friends Randy and Jared would be. We had a blast fishing, crabbing, hiking, watching meteor showers and learning cooking tricks from chef Randy. The four of us headed to the quiet dock in Olga to pull the final pots. They were full along with our hearts and we were excited to enjoy some fresh crab! As we stepped onto the dock from the boat Karl asked Aspen to take a photo. Aspen joined Karl and next thing she knew he was on one knee asking her to marry him. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, YES!" she exclaimed over and over and was met with "Are you sure?" "YES!" she shouted on August 15th, 2020.