The Countdown To Our Forever, Is On!

We wouldn't be tying the knot today if it weren't for our mutual friend (Austin's best friend), Jordan Uveges. We were first introduced by Jordan in 2012, at Austin's mom's house. We were heading out for a night of fun in St. Charles, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. When Kristin got to the house, the first one to greet her was puppy Chief. He jumped up on her so excitedly and his nails scratched the entire right side of her face, including her eye. It was love at first sight for Chief and Kristin, but Austin and Kristin needed a little more time to figure this out about each other. Flash forward to 2015, after a few Facebook chats, words with friends challenges, and trivia crack games, Kristin and Austin began dating. Chief couldn't believe how long it took them, but they have been nearly inseparable ever since.

In December 2019, I gifted Austin a snowboarding trip for his 30th birthday. Little did he know, I had arranged for his closest friends to surprise him at the airport so he could have a proper snowboarding experience. A day or so into the trip, Austin had told me he arranged for us to do something that we needed reservations for. He said that he didn't know anyone else would be with us and the tickets were now sold out, so only we would be going. While the boys were snowboarding one day, Andrea had asked me what I thought Austin had planned. I remember saying "I have no idea- there's probably a Disney on Ice show here that he's taking me to". Later that night, Austin took me to a small restaurant that had the best food, but I was too occupied with trying to figure out where he was taking me next. Then, we arrived at the Sea to Sky Gondola, so I knew this was the surprise! As we crossed a massive suspension bridge and hiked around at the top of the mountain, it began snowing. We were standing on a lookout point and I asked if he wanted someone to take a picture of us- he said no. Austin knows how much I love photography, so it was odd that he turned down my photo opportunity. We walked back off of the overlook, and a few minutes later Austin said he wanted to go back out to take a picture. Imagine my confusion! As we waited for the crowd to die down, we met a photographer who said he was there "capturing birds in the snow". Finally, the crowd cleared again and we went back out to get our own photo. Then, after a selfie, Austin got down on one knee and gave the sweetest speech. And I said..."is that photographer actually here for us?" (Haha)...and then I said YES! We were engaged March 1st, 2020 at the Chief Overlook in Whistler, Canada.