we're getting married!

Emily and Ian met as sophomores at Boise State's Catholic Student Center. One day, Emily was talking to her friend, Janelle, when Ian started playing the most beautiful tune on the Center's beat-up piano. Janelle whispered: "Dude - that guy's totally your type." Though a first date didn't happen for several more months, Ian and Emily soon became great friends. Ian bailed Emily out of a few awkward dates, Emily gave Ian lots of mediocre advice, and quick “how are yous?” always turned into all-nighters.

Trying to be a solid wingwoman and friend, Emily set Ian up on a couple of dates... however, this just made her realize how much she really loved him. It was on one of their late-night drives around town when Ian confessed he felt the same way. Coldplay and stargazing out of the sunroof helped make this cheesy moment magical!

After Ian and Emily graduated in 2018, Emily started working on her M.A. in History full-time at Boise State - while teaching and working nights at the Old Pen. Ian was working full-time as a product engineer in town, but he brought tons of dinners and flowers down to the History Department... and also served as a great proofreader and morale booster! This period was filled with change, between Ian losing his job (and finding a new one!), several deaths in the family, graduate school, buying a house, and three moves... this two-year period brought about a lot of challenges, but also helped Ian and Emily grow even closer as both partners and friends. They couldn't imagine undertaking these challenges with anybody else.

Ian had been secretly designing Emily's engagement ring during her time in graduate school. After graduation, Ian, Emily, and Riley (the dog) went for a sunset hike in the East Boise foothills. As they were sitting on a large rock overlooking the city, Ian began fumbling in his backpack and he pulled out a small purple box with the most beautiful ring inside - asking Emily to marry him. Of course, between laughing and crying, she said "yes!"... easiest answer ever.

Ian and Emily are so excited to continue building their life together and are grateful that you are able to share this time with them! If the engineering/historian thing doesn't work out, they hope to either own a Christmas tree farm or build a bowling alley in a small town. They'll keep you posted!