It was a whirlwind romance starting at a Shotwell house party in Middle School (sigh).... actually, it went nothing like that. Dennis DID have a big fat crush on Ashley since about that time though (not that he ever did anything to make her aware, and not like she would have cared). Fast forward 15 years to a Lake Raystown vacation, full of boating, floating, boozing, and cruising. Ashley had been going on this trip for years with the Shotwells, but this year Dennis had been invited as well. Ashley was shocked at how handsome Dennis had become, and how her cheeks hurt from laughing so much when he was around. She tried her best flirtation tactics that whole first day, pulling out all the stops, and got... nothing. Radio silence. Here Dennis thought she was just being nice and no WAY was she actually interested. Ashley knew her last resort was to use Mrs. Shotwell as her pawn, and simply ask if Dennis was single (knowing full well that Dennis would find out she asked within .35 seconds), and BOOM! Sparks starting flying. The rest of the night they were inseparable, staying up long after the party had died down, sitting by the lake and talking in to the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately Dennis had only planned to stay that first weekend of vacation and had to return to work Monday. He left, and they both couldn't stop thinking about each other. Even on vacation, Ashley was distracted and just wanted to see him again. Dennis struggled at work that Monday, and by Tuesday afternoon was feeling a bit of a "mental breakdown" coming on and asked his employer for a few days off, only to drive the 4.5 hours back to the Lake to spend the rest of the week with Ashley! Little did he know that that bold and wildly romantic gesture completely stole Ashley's heart. They had a blast the rest of the week together and as the vacation came to a close, their love story was just beginning!

Uniondale, Pa. When Dennis and Ashley started dating, they couldn't believe the chances of this small, no-name town in middle-of-nowhere PA being so prominent in both of their lives. Ashley grew up skiing at Elk mountain and staying at her grandparents' farmhouse there, and Dennis' parents moved up there 6 years ago after visiting his mom's college roommate there for years. So Ash and Den spent a lot of time up there, snowboarding in the winter, hiking and shooting in the summer. Knowing it's Ashley's favorite place in the world, Dennis knew it had to be part of his proposal. In August of 2017, they went up for another great summer weekend with Ashley's brother Dave and sister in law Lauren. They had a relaxing rainy day Saturday- Ashley had no idea of Den's plans. Sunday was clearer so they hiked the mountain, Dennis patting his pocket the whole way up to make sure the ring hadn't fallen out on the mountain, never to be seen again. They made it to the top and started taking the usual beautiful-view-backdrop pictures. Ashley had 352 ideas of poses and faces to make, then started playing a game she loves where she just goes limp and expects Dennis to catch her before she hits the ground (it's never fun for anyone else but her). After quite a struggle, Dennis finally got her to stand still for two seconds, just long enough to start lowering on to a knee and reaching in to his pocket. Ashley, being the classy, polished gal she is, realized what was happening and let out a big 'old cuss word in surprise! That didn't stop Dennis from asking though, and so ensued the tears and elated "YES!"s! As if that wasn't great enough, after the hike they had planned to have lunch at the local watering hole, Chet's Place. Ashley walked in first and was SHOCKED to see that all of her family and Den's family were waiting to surprise her and celebrate their engagement with them! It absolutely could not have been any more perfect (maybe minus the cussing...oops).