While we matched online we quickly decided to go on our first date. Being that we both love the outdoors he asked for me to meet him on a hike. Yes a hike... in the woods... where serial killers typically hunt. Thankfully I knew my friend was tracking me and I was going to bring a dog. So I warned Chris that Ill bring Ryder and Kip but leave Indy at home since he is not man-friendly. Indy is the sweetest boy but he is protective of me and does NOT like it if men come near me. Chris insisted that I bring all 3 dogs and we would make it work. Well let me tell you, he made it work. I open the car door and magic happens. I swear he had bacon or peanut butter in his pocket because as I was getting the boys ready to hike Indy jumped out of my car and ran to this stranger (Chris) and started licking him to death. At this point Chris looks at me and said okay so which one is Indy? uhhhh the one giving you kisses... So we went on this hike and it was beautiful, we talked, Kip laid down in a stream, and it was great. We get back to the car and Chris asked if we wanted to get lunch at this dog friendly burger place close by. Yes! He doesn't expect me to eat a salad and he wants to keep this thing going. So we eat, Indy gives him more kisses, the dogs get french fries and its still going well. At this point I have to end the date because I have a gingerbread house I have to build for our work competition...no really its real. So we part ways and I send him pics of the gingerbread house (that got last place) and the rest is history.

So there I was, Saturday afternoon, ring in pocket that I had sneakily gone to get earlier that day and was meeting Bethaney for lunch. She had just come from a manicure which I prompted her to get. She sits down and tells me how much she hated the color the nail tech gave her (mental facepalm). So that week I had to subtly prompt her to get her nails re-done if she really hates this color. She finally agreed and we planned a mini vacation for the following weekend where we would go see a waterfall before the impending snowstorm. So I found a pretty waterfall with a short hike on my app and we set off after her work on Saturday. It was a 2-hour trip, plenty of time to get to the trail for a quick hike and pop the question, or so I thought. We hit the "big" city and headed north up the mountain. We finally get to the turn-off for our destination... and there is a crossbar preventing anyone from going down the dirt road. I get out and read the sign on the bar that said that the road had been closed a week or two prior and would remain closed for a while. I get back on my app and try to find another waterfall nearby and... no service. So we head back 30 minutes down the windy road to the city so I can use my app again. I find another waterfall; we grab some gas and then head back the way we just came. We travel aways and finally get to where the app takes us. There wasn't a sign but there was an obvious trailhead, so we set out. We make it about a half mile and the trail just kind of stops. Running out of daylight, we decide to turn around and head back to the road to see if we just missed a sign or something. We make it and search for a sign, but don't see any. I suggest we head down to a sandy area along the river and as soon as we get there, we notice two dark shapes swimming in the river. They turned out to be river otters. Bethaney and the dogs were super excited. As she gleefully watched the otters, I set up a camera and got down on one knee. She said YES!