Saying “lo voglio!”

Leah and I had our first date at a coffee shop in downtown Logan, UT called Cafe Ibis. Both attending Utah State University, Leah an undergrad and me a grad student, discussions of Utah, origin stories and Greek life led from a cozy coffee date to a walk around Logan. The city being relatively small, we covered a fair bit of distance as we continued getting to know each other. Getting lost in her gorgeous light teal eyes, the few hours we’d already spent together wasn’t quite enough so we decided to drive around a bit to cover the rest of the city. Neither of us having a clue where to start, we left it all to chance. At each intersection, we flipped a coin and fate decided our route. To virtually no one’s surprise, the very last coin flip had us turning into the parking lot of a cheese maker on the outskirts of Logan. Wandering around a bit and getting scolded for trespassing, it was a relatively short stop but spoke worlds of our future together. Ever since, spontaneous travel, random chance, a little wandering, and good conversation have really served as support for the cheese our relationship was built on.

On our last minute bucket list trip to Germany and Austria, we had just left Hallstatt and were back in Salzburg so we could catch our bus back to Munich the next day. Ryan and Kyle (best man), woke us all up obnoxiously at 6am with the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song and told me to get ready and pack up my stuff, both of them refusing to tell me where we're going. Mind you, no one had set an alarm the entire trip and we were over a week in, so this was unusual. We all packed into the car and started driving. Recognizing the scenery and cows, I knew we were heading back to Hallstatt. I had dropped a few hints about wanting to rent a boat to go out on the lake in Hallstatt with a bottle of wine, so I had a feeling I knew what we were doing. When we arrive, Kyle drops us off so he can take a nap (an early riser, Kyle is not), so Ryan and I walk to find a boat rental place. By this time, it's about 7:30am, and we remember that Europe as a whole doesn't wake up until at least 9am. So we wander up and down the one street in Hallstatt for a while, hoping a place will open at 8. We run into Kyle, who couldn't sleep, and we all find a bakery that finally opened and enjoy some pastries and coffees together. Kyle goes back to the car to try and take a nap again, and Ryan and I find a little boat rental place that is run out of a nice old lady's home that opened. We rent a boat for an hour, and head out on the lake. We boat around for a while, I try to find the perfect spot to "enjoy the view", and that's when Ryan pops the question! We talk about how this morning, while it didn't go as planned, is right on par with everything we do and was even more perfect because of it. He gave me a shot glass he had gotten at the Stiegl Brewery a few days before, along with a bottle cap, which was a nod to the way my mom was proposed to by my step-dad. We popped some wild berry Shnapps and basked in the Austrian sun before it was time to return the boat and head to Munich.