We're getting married!

We met during our first quarter in college at the University of Oregon. Cole added Katie on Snapchat from one of the Class of 2022 Facebook groups and would relentlessly send messages, despite Katie ignoring them. Finally, one day, Katie responded to one of Cole's messages and the rest is history. A few weeks later, Katie made the first move by telling Cole he was "cute." A few weeks after messaging back and forth, we went on our first date to a University of Oregon football game. Katie attempted to flirt with Cole by telling him he clapped really loud, but really it was just a way to hold his hands (and make him be quiet). We often tell people we fell in love in Autzen stadium because we have been inseparable ever since. Katie remembers thinking to herself that she was going to marry Cole while watching the game. Despite it being way too early to be thinking that, she was right. We fell in love that night and never looked back. A few weeks later, we went on a date at Oregon Electric Station in Eugene, which has since closed. While Cole was getting ready he sliced open the top of his lip while shaving, which he tried blowing off, but we both knew it was the nerves kicking in. During dinner, Katie made fun of Cole for swapping out fettuccine noodles with macaroni noodles in his Alfredo. That evening, we decided to make it "official" on December 4th, 2018.

We became inseparable after that. We spent the rest of freshman year together hanging out, studying, attending sporting events, and getting to know each other more and more. After Katie switched majors approximately five times, Cole finally convinced her to settle on Business, as it made the most sense and she was only avoiding it because of the calculus requirement. Now that we were then both taking business classes together, we had an excuse to spend even more time together. Sophomore year we both lived with friends and spent the weeks alternating staying at each other's places. We made it halfway through our sophomore year when everything shut down due to COVID. When the pandemic happened, we both moved home with our families for the remainder of the year and through summer since classes were entirely online. This put a wrinkle in our plans, but we made sure to visit each other when we could and made the most of our time together. Cole was much better about coming down from the Bay to visit Katie, since Katie refused to do the road trip alone. That summer, we spent a lot of time together. We visited each other's home towns, spent time with family, and somehow didn't get tired of each other when everything was shut down. We moved into our first apartment together for our Junior year. Classes were still fully online due to COVID, but we were happy to be back in Eugene and living together for the first time in our 500 square foot apartment. We both got accepted into the Business Honors Program at the end of sophomore year, so we spent our Junior and Senior year taking honors classes together, along with any other classes we could get together. Classes were still fully online our Junior year, so somehow we managed to both attend our online classes in our little apartment without disrupting one another too much. We spent a lot of time studying this year, as classes were starting to ramp up and we were starting think more and more about our future careers. When we weren't studying, we spent a lot of time outdoors, hanging out with friends, and trying new food spots in Eugene. Since the mask mandate was still in place during this time, one of our favorite things to do was go on long walks around our neighborhood and campus. We would have the best conversations and just enjoy the beautiful scenery around Eugene. We truly loved the time we spent there. We loved trying new restaurants together and sharing plates when we couldn't decide on just one option. By the time Senior year rolled around, we had our favorite food places dialed in. Bo & Vine was our favorite burger spot, Hawaiian Time for hawaiian food, Tacovore for the best tacos and margaritas, Placidos for great italian, and Handel's for the best ice cream. We're both foodies, so we always had the best time trying new food options and loved when the street fair came to campus in the Fall and Spring. Our Senior year finally rolled around and the world started becoming more normal again. The mask mandates began lifting and many of our classes were in person again. It was nice that we were able to enjoy a relatively normal senior year after the pandemic. We really enjoyed being back on campus and randomly running into friends to briefly catch up before or after classes. We were both on the Business Honors student-led board Senior year, which gave us the opportunity to set up social events for students in the Business Honors program. One of the activities we set up each term was intramurals. We participated in various intramural sports including flag football, volleyball, and basketball. Cole loved playing on each of these teams, while Katie enjoyed setting them up and cheering on from the sidelines. Graduation finally came around in June of 2022 and our time at the University of Oregon was coming to an end. It was bittersweet as this was the place we fell in love, earned our degrees, and met the most amazing friends, but we knew life was about to get even better.

Unfortunately, Cole gave everyone (all 15 family members) COVID during the week of graduation, so we had to cancel our graduation trip to Cancun. We made a quick trip to Vegas after we recovered instead to celebrate before starting our new jobs. Katie started her job a few weeks after graduation and Cole started his internship soon after, so we wanted to get some sort of graduation trip in before entering the corporate world. After graduating, we moved out of our apartment in Eugene and moved in with Katie's family for a few months. Katie started her role as a Project Specialist at Adpearance, while Cole began his Client Relations internship at True Capital in Century City. We decided to live with Katie's family, as Cole had to commute down to Century City several times a week. Although this was closer than if we had moved in with Cole's parents in Santa Barbara, it was still nearly a four hour round trip for Cole. Since the internship was only six months, we thought it made sense to save money while starting out and live with family until his internship ended in December. Starting our careers was an adjustment for the both of us, as we had ample time together throughout college and weren't used to being bound to a strict 8-5 schedule, although it was more like 7-7 on days when Cole would commute to the office. We made the most of our evenings together after work, and devoted a lot of time and energy to our relationship. We made an effort to check in with each other after the work day, plan date nights, and make sure we could still find the time to binge watch shows together. We adjusted quickly to our new schedules and learned how to create and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Since we knew there was a chance that we'd be moving away from family again after Cole's internship, we made sure to make the most of the time we lived close to both of our families. Our parents only live around 40 minutes from each other, so it was easy for us to bounce around and spend time with everyone. Although this time period was a big adjustment for us, we managed to grow even closer during this time. We became really intentional with the time we spent together and honed in on the activities that we enjoyed most. One our favorite things to do on the weekends when we were staying with Cole's parents in Santa Barbara was grabbing a coffee and ham & cheese croissant from Starbucks in the morning and then heading down to the beach. We'd sit in our beach chairs and drink our coffee while sharing the croissant and catch up with each other. When we weren't talking, we'd sit and listen to the waves, walk along the beach, or Katie would read and Cole would catch up on sports. This time was so special to us, as it became our time to connect with each other and disconnect from the rest of the world. Our mornings at the beach are still one of our favorite things, and we look forward to a lifetime of mornings at the beach together.

As Cole's internship was nearing the end, an opportunity arose for him in the Bay Area. Even though it felt like we had just gotten into a routine with our current roles, this was an opportunity we couldn't turn down. With Katie's job being fully remote, we thought it made sense to move back up to the Bay Area for this opportunity since it would be a full-time role in the area Cole grew up in and Katie was semi-familiar with. It was tough moving away from family for a second time after returning from college, but we knew we had each other and would return eventually. Cole began his new role as a Senior Client Accountant Specialist at MAI Capital Management in January of 2023, and we made the move to Dublin, California a few weeks before. We moved into a new two bedroom apartment this time around, which was nearly three times as big as our first apartment together. Our first apartment came fully furnished, so this time around we were able to get our own furniture and make the apartment feel more like home. Katie loves interior design, so this was something she really enjoyed. It took us a few months to settle in and furnish our new place, but once we finished, we wasted no time on getting our first dog together! In March 2023, Katie saw a picture of the sweetest little goldendoodle puppy on Instagram and made the executive decision that we needed a puppy so that she could have a work buddy while Cole was working in the office and she was alone at home. We drove down to Santa Barbara on a rainy evening after work and spent the whole drive down bouncing names back-and-forth. His name was originally Finn, but now he is our sweet Oakley boy. He is the most precious little baby and has become the center of our world. It's crazy how fast time flies. We've lived in the Bay Area for just about two years, and will soon be moving back down to Southern California to be closer to our families. SO many special memories were made during our time in the Bay. We met the most amazing friends, discovered great restaurants and wineries, and got to spend time with Cole's family in the area as well. The Bay Area will always hold a special place in our heart since it's where we first became dog parents and got engaged!

What a day this was. Driving in the snow was certainly a first for someone who grew up in California. The thought of putting chains on had my head in a blender. Between my heart racing, knowing what was about to come, and anxiety driving on an icy road right alongside a cliff, it’s safe to say I was a bit of a mess. Through all of these emotions and feelings, I knew that on February 2nd, 2024 I was going to propose to the woman of my dreams. Looking back on that day, I did a poor job of keeping everything a secret. The whole road trip, I was making comments, asking questions, and saying things that were all pseudo hints at the time. Unfortunately, my big mouth might have led Katie to knowing what was going to happen on this trip. It was easily the most stressful drive of my life with the severe weather and the ring sitting in my jacket pocket. Upon arrival to the hotel, I insisted on checking in for us and let Katie and Oakley sit in the nice warm car. I was greeted by the concierge and informed that someone had called ahead to have a surprise left in our room. Unsure who this individual was, I went along with the woman acting as if I knew what she was talking about. We checked in about 30 minutes before sunset and I began frantically unpacking and insisting to Katie that we had to rush down to the beach to see the sunset, which was almost nonexistent due to the thick grey clouds in the sky. From Katie's perspective this was likely perplexing. Alas, we put on layer after layer and headed down to the beach... to enjoy a classic Tahoe winter sunset :). My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest driving down to the beach. The ring sitting in my jacket pocket, coincidentally right over my heart. Shortly after parking and making our way to the gate for the private beach entrance, we were met with a sign that clearly stated "No Dogs Allowed.” This sign deterred Katie more than it did me, so instead of turning back we marched onto the beach with our dog. As we trekked, and I mean trek as one of us (Katie) does not do very well walking on the beach, we made it to a spot where it was just the three of us. The moment was upon on us. To add some context, I received a jewelry cleaner from the jeweler upon picking up the ring. This cleaner had been tucked away in my nightstand for more than three months at this point. However, Ms. Katie Blair had discovered this item randomly and immediately tried to wipe that moment from her memory. So, I decided to incorporate the cleaner into the proposal. Back to the beach. Oakley and I had got out ahead of Katie, you'll recall one of us doesn't do well walking on beaches, and I bent down to "pickup" an item on the beach. Obviously, the item was the jewelry cleaner that I pulled out from my pocket, so slyly I will add. I turned around to show Katie this very cool thing that I found and after processing what was in my hand, she immediately stopped. I handed her the cleaner and then reached into my jacket pocket for the ring box. Katie asked "Is this really happening?!" and I said "YES it is.” After getting Oakley situated so that he doesn't run into the ocean, I dropped to a knee. Katie and I both were at bit of a loss for words as we were both so excited for the moment that neither of us really could speak. After explaining to Katie everything that makes me want an exciting life together, I popped the question asking "Katie Lynn Blair, will you marry me?" It was the fastest "Yes!" I have ever heard her say and we both really enjoyed being present in the moment as the snow slowly fell down from the sky. It was a real life Snow on the Beach moment for all you Swifties. Even to this day, I tell Katie that I wish it was a more beautiful sunset to complement the beautiful moment we shared. The moment, the day, the weekend was all incredibly special and memorable but I will always wish the sunset was more perfect. In the end, this will be a day that neither of us will ever forget.

Where do I even begin describing one of the best days of my life. For Christmas (2023), Cole surprised me with a trip to Lake Tahoe and booked us a stay at a beautiful hotel we'd been wanting to stay at for awhile. I knew the proposal would likely be coming within the next year or so, but at the time I didn't have any suspicions that he'd be proposing on this trip. The weekend of our trip, Tahoe was supposed to have a pretty big snow storm come in. The week leading up to the trip I was super anxious about driving in the snow and we discussed possibly pushing the trip back due to the storm. Cole assured me that we'd be fine and get there no problem since we have a 4WD car. The drive there was absolutely terrifying. I think I was holding my breath the whole time, terrified that we were going to spin out or slip on ice and fall off the cliff. Cole is a great driver, but I still didn't like the conditions we were driving in. The roads were super slick with snow and ice, and the visibility was low. Of course on our way up the mountain, we saw a car spin out right in front of us. Cole jokingly said "I have a feeling we're going to remember this weekend for a long time," and that's when it hit me that it might actually be happening. He timed it well, so in the moment I brushed it off and thought he was just trying to make me less anxious. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to ruin anything he potentially had planned, and I was also still terrified of the road ahead of us. We finally arrive at the hotel and it was just as beautiful as the photos. We unpack the car and get settled in a little bit, but soon after we get there, Cole insisted we had to leave to go watch the sunset on the beach. I still had the thought in my mind that maybe he was going to propose, but I had so much doubt because we'd been talking about getting engaged forever. I was also extremely confused as it was snowing and there was going to be no visible sunset. I bundled up, got Oakley ready, and went along with it since there was no chance he was going to let us miss this sunset. The beach was less than a mile away from our hotel, but we drove since it was snowing and freezing outside. When we get there, the gate to the (private) beach said no dogs allowed. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a rule follower, even when it's snowing outside and the beach is entirely empty. I told Cole we shouldn't go because I was afraid of getting in trouble for bringing Oakley on the beach. He convinced me we were fine, so we all went on the beach and started walking down the sand towards the water. I'm still confused at this point, but wasn't confident it was happening. I followed behind Cole and Oakley who managed to get quite some distance ahead of me. I didn't think anything about it because I am terrible at walking in the sand, so it's very normal for him to get ahead of me. He stopped ahead of me and pointed at something in the ground, asking me what it was. It was a ring cleaner that I thought I saw in his nightstand drawer a few weeks prior. I briefly opened it looking for something, saw the name of the jeweler we went to over a year ago, and shut it before I could make anything out of it. I tried to shove that moment out of my mind. I picked it up and Cole told me it was "funny finding that here," and then proceeded to get down on one knee and ask me to marry him with the most beautiful ring I've ever seen. I always wanted a private proposal, so this was perfect in every way. Somehow he managed to keep the whole thing a surprise by constantly putting doubt in my mind. Despite there being no sunset, the beach was absolutely beautiful and at this point the snowfall was pretty heavy, so I always tell people I had my Taylor Swift "Snow on the Beach" moment. We spent the whole weekend talking about our life together and taking it all in. He was right, we will remember that weekend forever!