In a world of dating apps, finding your soulmate seems like an impossible feat. This was my experience for a few years; endlessly swiping in the hope that I would find that one person who made everything feel right. Things seemed bleak until finally one night I came across this unassuming profile of a cute and seemingly nice guy. I swiped right and it was a "MATCH!" I sent a waving bear saying "hello" gif and was sent back a waving whale "whale hello" gif. I had a feeling that this one was going to be different. We messaged each other daily for 2 weeks before settling on meeting at a country bar, "The Ranch," to see if the spark was real. JD literally swept me off my feet that night, as we 2-stepped around the dance floor, laughing and sharing stories. We began to realize that we were always one step behind each other; hanging at the same bars, having mutual friends, and even competing against each other in high school on the pool deck! After casually dating for 3 months, we planned an impromptu 3-day road trip to Utah and Nevada to visit natural hot springs, Zion National Park, and Las Vegas. We had never traveled together but both knew that if we could survive 20 hours in the car together, through snowstorms, we could survive anything. Long story short, I knew from the moment we woke up in a snow-covered bus in the middle of Utah, that I had found my match for life. My forever adventure partner. The one who makes everything seem right. The love of my life.

Never would I have imagined that I'd meet the love of my life swiping through seemingly endless faces on a dating app I downloaded because my roommate told me it had "Way hotter girls than Tinder"...but here we are. I had been on Bumble for about a year or so...swiping, matching, waiting...until one day this super cute girl I had swiped on sent me a gif of a waving bear saying "Hello!". Now, I love gifs so not to be outdone I sent back one of a breaking whale that said "Whale hello there!". The conversation took off from there and I knew that this was going to be something special. Cut to a few weeks later of talking and getting to know each other, we decided to finally meet up in person to see if this connection was going to take off. We decided to meet at a country bar, The Ranch, which it turns out we both frequented. I get to the bar and when I see her I was like...oh man, she's even better looking in person! Now, I'll be completely honest here...I got pretty nervous and may or may not have tried to cover that up with some good ol' liquid courage (oops) so some moments are a bit hazy, but I remember 2-stepping our butts off, laughing, and no awkward pauses in conversation. This was definitely something special. After a few months of dating, we planned a spur of the moment road trip to some hot springs she found in Utah, alongside Zion & Vegas. What better way to test if a relationship will work than 20 hours in a car together? That trip was one of the best of my life and actually sparked a new tradition of annual winter road trips to National Parks. This whole trip showed me that I had found my person, but the moment I knew I loved her was when she Iced me in the middle of Zion (sounds weird, I know but there's a long backstory of the great Icing war that ravaged my house). As I got on my knee and chugged that thing, I knew one day I'd be getting down on one knee for a completely different type of icing. She's the one. My adventure buddy for life. My love.

It began just like many of our other adventures, with a road trip to National Parks. It was finally time for our traditional winter road trip and we decided that we were going to complete the rest of the Big Five in Utah. After a whirlwind pandemic Christmas with our families, we set out in the early morning of December 26th and made our way to our first park, Capitol Reef National Park. Unbeknownst to me, JD was running off pure caffeine and anxiety because he had something special planned for this road trip. After checking the first park off the list, we continued our trip and made it to Moab, Utah. We were both exhausted from the drive but excited for our sun rise hike the next morning to the Delicate Arch located in the heart of Arches National Park. After a restful nights sleep (at least on my end) we got up that dark and frigid winter morning and drove the winding roads through the park. We began our hike, admiring the beauty and silence of the desert with a fresh dusting of snow that glimmered from the setting moon. We may or may not have gotten lost a few time but right before sunrise we saw the Arch in the distance. Being the natural wonder it is, the Delicate Arch draws thousands of visitors each day but on this quite winter morning, as we rounded the bend to witness the Arch up close, we were met with just a few fellow hikers admiring its beauty. It was perfect. JD set up his camera, as he usually does, to capture the natural beauty of the moment. Little to my knowledge, he was also going to capture the beautiful moment that our adventure took on its new chapter. With the sun just beginning to rise and light up the desert, he got down and asked the most important and easy question I've ever been asked. Cheers to our forever adventure.