Cassie: We met at Twin Lakes dog park in Columbia, Missouri on a Thursday afternoon. Lexa went over to play with Leia so I thought I would chat with the cute dog dad. Cole: There was this adorable little Aussie looking puppy that out of nowhere came up to me and my dog to play! I noticed that the cute little thing also had a cute little dog-mom so I had to make an effort to get her name and make sure that she was a regular at the dog park. This crazy new puppy wanted to chase Leia so badly but wouldn't ever swim with her. So I picked her up and started my conversation with the cute dog mom. Cassie: Cole and I got to talking and eventually the "where are you from?" question was asked. Usually this conversation is short after I tell people "southern Illinois" since no one knows where Mascoutah is, but Cole responded, "Ok, and?" I threw out, "near St. Louis", "close to Belleville, IL" AND THEN... "Mascoutah." Cole: After finding out she was from Mascoutah, I knew that we had to see each other again since we would have had 'being from a small town' in common. Plus I had to let her know that Highland was better ;) Cassie: We talked for a good while at the park and went our separate ways. I was kicking myself for not asking for his number! I remembered he said he normally goes to the park on Tuesdays after work so I wrote myself a sticky note to be there that following Tuesday to see him again. Cole: You know I think I definitely made a mistake not asking for her number. She was so easy to talk to and I wasn't sure if she caught on to when I said I usually go to the dog park (man was I wrong!) so I had to do some social media stalking to find out who this girl was. Cassie: That Saturday, I got a Tinder notification that said Message from Cole, and I didn't think there was any way it could be the same guy form the park. BUT IT WAS. We had previously matched on Tinder and I didn't respond to him. Whoops! Cole: I knew that she looked familiar! And here we are!

Cassie: Cole proposed on our yearly trip to Colorado. Our friends Austin and Courtney were part of the planning/execution team. While I was in the shower that night, Austin, Courtney and Cole made up our summit signs. Cole: Austin, Courtney and I knew that she had no idea and it was great! Having them in on the plan the whole time was such a rush! I told them both that night we would NOT have much time before Cassie knew the sign was backwards when we were on top of the Mt. Democrat, so they had to act fast and take as many pictures as they possibly could. Cassie: We woke up at 3:30am on Sunday to get dressed and hit the road for our 1.5 hour drive to the trailhead. When we arrived, we warmed up our breakfast burritos and watched the earlier-risers ascend up the mountain. We started our journey up the mountain, and Courtney and Austin were capturing the day with their camera and GoPro, which I was excited to be part of their trip video. (Check out the amazing video they made for us: www.instagram.com/tv/CIuHJWdhUkd/) At one point I commented on the chapstick in Cole's back pocket. I forgot to pack my own and told him that was smart. After that, he was very sweet and said I could hike in front of him to set the pace. Cole: Oh boy, it was not so that she could set the pace! Since she noticed chapstick, there was a chance she could pick out a ring box in my pocket. Honey, for the rest of the day, you're going to set the pace for us!...just don't look at my pockets anymore! Cassie: We finally made it to the top and went to take our summit picture. I noticed the sign backwards, went to turn it around and saw "Marry Me?" I may have semi blacked out but think I remember saying "wait, what? YES!" Cole: I knew she was going to notice right away! I had to ask her again because I didn't even get "Will..." out before she exclaimed "YES!" Happiest day of my life when I heard her say yes! I knew I couldn't wait to show her the video that all of you help me make!

3 years to the day we said "I do" in Breckenridge, CO with our parents, siblings, best man, maid of honor, and of course, the two that brought us together- Leia and Lexa!