Nick and Christie met the first week of college at a house party. We went to the party separately with mutual friends, barely knowing who each other were or what was to come. The party was raging, lots of people enjoying themselves and getting carried away. One of those mutual friends wanted to leave the party, having a sneaking suspicion it was about to be busted. So, that friend left with Christie and the friends she arrived with. As Christie and friends drove out of the neighborhood, they serendipitously saw cop cars zooming towards the party house. The mutual friend in Christie's car wanted to warn Nick of the incoming police, but he didn't have a cell phone, so he borrowed Christie's. Back at the party, Nick saw a call come in from an unknown number and ignored it. A minute later, the unmistakable blue and red lights flashed through the windows of the house causing a panic throughout. "COPS!" Everyone was shouting at each other trying to figure out their next move. Nick acted quickly and ran into the back yard where he saw a couple like minded friends wanting to escape the possible M.C. and hopped a couple fences into the woods. After reaching relative safety, he remembered how a call came in just before the cops showed up. It seemed a little too timely to be coincidence. Nick decided to then call the number back. To Nick's surprise, Christie answered the phone. He explained that he was lost near some trail head in Lemon Creek. Christie and friends drove down every street in Lemon Creek, looking for the trail at which Nick could be. After several failed attempts, Nick was finally found and rescued. This is when Nick and Christie were officially introduced. We spent the rest of the night with our group of escapees, driving around, and laughing about the crazy night we had. When it was time to go home, Christie asked Nick where he lived. Lo and behold, we lived in the same University dormitory. We hung out nearly every day after that, and within a few short weeks, we were a couple and unofficial college roommates. Then, as they say, the rest is history...

Christie and Nick went to Whitehorse to celebrate his 30th birthday, which happened to be during a heat wave. At breakfast that morning, our waitress told us to "go jump in a lake" for her, and hoping to escape the heat ourselves, we asked her for suggestions on where to go. She told us about a place called Miles Canyon that was only a few minutes away. So that afternoon, we went out to Miles Canyon. While there wasn't anywhere for us to jump in at, it was a breathtaking spot. This massive canyon is surrounded by lush trees and has the Yukon river flowing right through it. Nick suggested we explore so we walked along the canyon for a little while before deciding to turn back around. When we got back to the bend in the trail (lefthand side in photo below), Nick shared the sweetest, most heartfelt words before saying "all I want for my birthday is you" and getting down on one knee to propose! Christie was absolutely stunned and joyfully exclaimed YES! Christie had her suspicions that Nick may propose on this trip, so she packed the ring she had bought for Nick just in case. That night just before bed, we took a walk along the Yukon River and down to Rotary Peace Park. We reached a bench at the edge of the park and sat to take in the sunset. Christie shared with Nick her reflection on their many adventures together during his twenties and the growth of their love over the last decade, before announcing wanting to "ring in" the next decade together the right way, and asking him to marry her, too.