We're getting married!

Their first date was at a restaurant called Crave Sushi. Which is no longer in business. Chris was nervously waiting in the restaurant and Ariel was fashionably late of course. Little did he know, Ariel was sitting in her car contemplating going in to meet him or not. She sat for a while wondering what if she just left and made up an excuse like she had to study for a big nursing test. Staring into her rearview mirror, she decided to go in. If the date went bad at least she'd get a free meal. She walked into the restaurant and sitting at a table against the window was Chris. He was wearing his favorite maroon button down shirt and his hair was a bit messy. They talked for hours and hours. Where they grew up, their jobs, their like and dislikes, and Chris being an engineer/nerd talked about what the table was made of. They knew the night was over when the waiter started to mop the floor next to their table. Having had one roll each in a four hour period, they both went home and ate dinner. Chris did not wait the cliche three days to call. He asked right away for a second date and I agreed. The rest is too long to tell because there is five years worth of this gold.

In February, Chris and Ariel took a trip to Breckenridge, a snowy escape from the heat in Texas. While riding the trails on Peak 8, Chris nervously waited for his chance to make his move. He decided on the Snowflake trail, a less traveled route lined with frosted pine tress and snowcapped mountains peaking over them. With Ariel's mom at the ready with the camera and the spot picked out, they approached the start of the trail. Before Chris could get a word out, Ariel zipped by him yelling "I'll meet you at the end!". Shocked, Chris watched as she rode out of sight. After a few more runs and a few failed attempts, Chris stopped off on the side of a run and waved Ariel down to stop. He said he wanted to take a picture of the beautiful background. Ariel unassumingly posed for a picture. Distracted by passing skiers and Ariel's mom 'fumbling' to put the phone in camera mode, she did not notice Chris was staring right at her. He began to talk about how the past five years have been the best of his life and dropped down on one knee. I cried the whole way down. Happy tears, of course.