The year was 2018, and Chris and Bethany were both searching for their forever partner. They each turned to the modern choice--the dating app "Bumble," hoping to find love at first swipe. They matched, chatted, exchanged numbers, and then.....never actually met. They were busy and forgot all about it. Cut to the infamous 2020 where they both had thoughts of "how does anyone date during a pandemic?" and cautiously rejoined bumble. Both went on a social distanced date or two, but nothing came of it. This is when Bethany decided to give up on dating and try to make it through the pandemic by focusing on other interests. She went to delete bumble, only to discover a message from Chris, who asked for another chance to finally meet up. Bethany agreed, and the couple had their first date exactly two years to the day (October 3rd for all you Mean Girls fans) of their first message in 2018. They met up for a drink on the patio of Tap 'N Handle in Fort Collins. Chris told Bethany she would recognize him because he was wearing a "light shirt," whatever that means. They met at 3pm, but managed to talk until the restaurant closed--seven hours later. At one point she asked him his favorite movie (an impossible question for Chris), he said, "La La Land" which made her bust up laughing as she thought this was a joke. In spite of that, they've been together ever since. P.S. For their second date, they saw La La Land at the drive in.

Bethany picked out a purple sapphire ring and sent the link to Chris. We had already discussed getting married, and even booked our wedding venue. So to surprise Bethany with a proposal was going to be tough. Chris planned to purchase the ring on black Friday because he looked up that the jeweler offered 20 percent off on that day (gotta get a deal!). She was concerned the ring would be sold out before then, and sure enough, it was. Bethany brought this to Chris' attention and he said he'd contact the jeweler to see if they could make another since they do custom rings. The week we got engaged was a busy one, Chris had many basketball games to officiate, and Bethany had the fall play. So they planned to have a date night on that weekend. Saturday rolled around and they ventured out to take Franklin (their dog) for a walk in the park right by their house (Spring Canyon, which also happens to be Bethany's favorite in town). As they walked Bethany tried to go down a path we often take and Chris said, "let's go this way." This happened a few more times, and she grew increasingly more annoyed that he wouldn't go the direction she had chosen as they normally don't have a set route. They started letting Frank run around in the grass, and when Bethany finally caught up to Chris he said, "Frank has something for you." She confusingly looked at the dog, and finally realized Chris had put the ring box in their dog's jacket. He got down on one knee and proposed right there with the ring she picked out. Turns out, HE bought the ring and had fibbed to throw her off the scent. "I had to surprise you somehow", he said. And so, in her favorite park on a sunny, 60 degree Colorado December day (after she apologized for being so grumpy) they got engaged! (Chris also arranged to have his brother Andrew to take photos of the proposal, which Bethany had not clue about. For Christmas that year Andrew gave her the pictures in a lovely frame. Cue the tears.)