Annie jokes that she had to climb a mountain to find the love of her life. And it's true. While living in Seattle in 2018, I decided on a whim to sign up to climb Mount Rainier. Had I ever climbed anything? No. Did I train for this particular adventure? No. Did I know how to hold an ice axe? Definitely no. Grayson was working as a Mountain Guide on Mount Rainier. A little persuasion of his co-guides ensured that I would be on his rope team all the way to the summit of Mt. Rainier (14,410'). Normally G would be itching to get back to Wyoming as soon as the summer guiding season on Mt. Rainier was over. But this year was different. The Monday after our climb I got a friend request on Facebook from G. I took a shot and messaged him asking to go out for a beer the next time he was in the area. We went out for a fun night that started with neither of us knowing if it was a date. By the end of the evening, we parted ways a little sad and unsure when we would see each other again. What stuck out on the first date was this mutual feeling that we had known each other for years. Back in Wyoming a few days later, Grayson texted me various funny updates from Wyoming life, with a few reminders sprinkled in that I was always welcome to come visit the Tetons. My Mom, Josie encouraged me to take a chance on a connection and go to Wyoming for a long weekend. I later found out that as I was leaving for the airport my mom was wondering if this was terrible parenting advice. But 3.5 years later, the weekend trip resulted in a lot of flights back and forth, a shared apartment turned to a purchased home, and a new addition to the family, our dog Miles. We couldn't be more excited to be engaged!

One casual Monday night after work, I asked Annie if she wanted to go over to our favorite bar, Dornan's, in Grand Teton National Park. The plan as she knew it was to get some pizza and then listen to the elk bugling. We got to Dornan's and had the whole roof deck to ourselves with a beautiful sunset over the Tetons. Annie started getting mushy, as she does, saying how fun the past three years have been, how unbelievable it was that one of our very first dates had been in the exact spot we were standing, how thankful she was for the life we are building together. Annie had stolen my line(s). That's when I decided to drop to a knee and open a box with her grandmother's ring that her parents had given me over the summer. To say Annie was surprised is an understatement.