Elizabeth began that faithful evening believing she was just attending a pajama party, not knowing that she was about to be swept off her feet by a man in Ugg boots and a proclivity for beer. After Matt had acquired her number, he ran away to California and didn't use it until 4 weeks later, when she randomly showed up on his doorstep for a party one cold Chicago winter day. After many a good conversation and drinks at the local watering hole, The Whistler, Matt managed to get a good night kiss and an offer for a second date the next day. Unbeknownst to them the Chicago snow gods shown brightly the next day and dumped damn near 12 inches of snow. Not to be deterred Elizabeth still wanted to hang out and Matt drove his trusty Saturn Ion into the storm. After many a fish tale and close calls he made it to the Gold Coast and the rest is history.

Elizabeth and Matt had made a habit of going to Yosemite. They had been the previous 2 years but never like this. All of Elizabeth's family was in tow and Matt made sure that they all knew what was going to happen if they made it to the top of Half Dome. That was a big 'if'. Not only did they not have any permits, they also had plans to head to Tuolumne to do some climbing the day before while the rest of the family got there, limiting their time to wait in line for day of permits. Never to be deterred Matt spent one cold, lonely night sitting outside the wilderness permit office in Yosemite valley while Elizabeth slept soundly in the car. Not only did they manage to acquire the 6 permits for Little Yosemite Valley backcountry camping (which included Half Dome permits), but they also managed to piss off the group of 4 behind them in line as there were only 8 available that day. Once the family got going it was glorious. Matt nervously joked the entire way up the 4,000 feet of elevation gain to the campsite where they called it an early day and prepared for the assault on the Dome the next morning. I don't know to what extent our readers are familiar with the Half Dome trail, but as you climb it morphs from a single track wooded trail to an exposed series of stairs and slabs on the side of a big granitic dome. The final portion of the trail is a roughly 30 degree slab climb on cables. 5 of the 6 committed to climbing those cables. Once on top there was already an aura of celebration without Matt even having to propose. He coyly asked Elizabeth if she would like to go take a picture on the diving board that overhangs the shear face of Half Dome. Once they were positioned and the family was ready to take the shot, Matt got down on one knee, stuttered something like 'I think you know what's about to happen' and opened a box.