C + L

We met at a local bar in Cedar Falls, IA 2 weeks before Leah moved back to Colorado in July 2020! A tale as old as time. Mallory & Leah were out for a fun night after some of the COVID restrictions had lifted and ran into Calvin with a group of his friends. An instant connection. That night we had agreed it was so fun to meet each other & made plans to grab ice cream! After our first "date" of ice cream and a 2 hour walk around Cedar Falls ended, Leah immediately called one of her friends and said the words "I think I just met my husband, I'm not even kidding." Calvin then left for his sister's wedding in Montana the next day and was gone for one full week. If you recall, Leah was moving. The last 5 days in Iowa, Leah spent a lot of time with Calvin! The morning the U-Haul left, Calvin came to where Leah was staying and gave her a hoodie to take along for her ride. Classic. Less than a month later, Calvin was on a flight from Cedar Rapids Airport to Denver International. Where he spent the weekend meeting Leah's family and friends who welcomed him almost instantly. However, dropping him off at the airport, Leah thought she was never going to see him again; as she was convinced he didn't like her and the weekend was just a one time romance whirl. The rest is history! ;)

Through the next couple months, Calvin made the effort to fly out to Denver, CO to visit Leah on a monthly basis, sometimes more than once (as his job was more flexible with travel). We fell in love in the Mountains and the city-scape of Denver suburbs. It was so fun and spontaneous. We learned so much about each other through these first few months. But it was exciting and thrilling to go on adventures, be spontaneous and just enjoy getting to know each other! In December 2020, Leah had a real talk with her mom about her feelings and that's when it clicked, home is not a destination, but it most definitely is a heart/soul. And if any of you know Leah, you know she HATES cliches. But she realized in that conversation, that Calvin was her home! So in February 2021, she packed up yet another U-Haul and drove BACK to Iowa... this time, with Clavin in the seat next to her. They moved in together in Calvin's apartment in Cedar Falls & slowly settled into a life living together, continuing the spontaneity and joy.

In May 2021, Calvin purchased a home in Waverly, IA with Leah by his side. Shortly after moving in, we adopted sweet Pickles, a farm cat from a trusted friend. As a kitten, she was spunky, full of love and immediately stole our hearts! That's when the real life together began. We had to learn to adapt financially, socially, and as homeowners - learning to take on projects, trials and some minor drama. Moving to Waverly was a pivotal part of our relationship. The ability to play host/hostess for our friends, a large backyard to have space for Pickles and Leah to enjoy the sun, and a space for Calvin to tinker and curate a small knick-knack collection gave us a glimpse of a longtime future together. We knew we were sold at this point. Sold on the imagination of future homes, projects, dream vacation destinations. It was all falling into place!

Continuing our life in Waverly, IA... Calvin continues to work for a great company where he enjoys what he does, looks forward to future career changes & is excited about his career choice. Leah began working for another small business owner in Waverly as she finished her Master's Degree. In 2022 we did a lot of traveling! Visiting many new destinations, together and separate. We were able to spend a lot of time with both of our families as the Helland's experienced some health scares, loss/grieving and also joy with new babies! Familial changes allowed us to learn to lean on each other and experience real relationship growth. In 2023 we continued to travel and explore new destinations, furthering our careers at the same companies, Leah took a break from her Master's Degree to focus on enjoying life in her 20s and slow down for a while. We got our sweet baby Wiggs, the smallllllest kitten in the late Spring; he is a very different character compared to Pickles. Wiggs is full of energy, loves toys and is the sweetest boy. He DEFINITELY gives us a run for our money though. Calvin continued trial and error house projects, welcomed another niece! In the late summer we got engaged! Many people don't know the full story of our engagement, but the most sincere way to describe it: thoughtful and so peaceful. It was beautiful, perfectly perfect for us and remains one of Leah's favorite days EVER! If you don't know, Leah tragically ruined Calvin's incredibly thoughtful proposal plan.... MULTIPLE of them, actually. However, the "final" plan was the most beautiful. A proposal outside of the Cedar Rapids Airport on the anniversary date of the first time Calvin flew out to visit Leah in Colorado all the way back in 2020! *tear jerker* Our proposal was celebrated with so much love and support from so many of our friends and family, it was overwhelmingly wonderful! Thank you thank you thank you!

We are so excited for 2024! There are multiple things to celebrate this year! We have many friends getting married, celebrating Calvin's parents 40th wedding anniversary and the possibilities of new family members continue to grow! As we approach the fall, we are absolutely obsessed with how our wedding day is looking! We extend our sincerest gratitude to all who have supported our dream wedding day. We decided long ago in the early stages of dating that our wedding day looked the most peaceful and most "Calvin & Leah" to only share it with a small number of close loved ones. A large gathering isn't something we would prefer and we know how taxing it can be on guests as well. Colorado is where we fell in love and it's definitely stunning, we knew we wanted to elope in the mountains and we can't wait to share with you all how that day looks in September! Again, thank you to all for supporting us and still lifting us up in love even without a large gathered celebration!

As we continue to grow and age, we are over-the-moon excited to check new things off our bucket lists, learn more about the world, travel, love on our favorite fur-children & enjoy married life with no human-children. We love food. Love new destinations. Get excited by small house projects. Bicker like we're already 50 years into a marriage. But most importantly, we love each other and continue to choose each other every day. We've learned that coexisting is more than just commitment. It's work, effort, grace, compassion and above all, continued learning process. To all our friends and family, we thank you for your kindness & support. Love, C + L