We met while rock climbing at an indoor rock climbing gym. It was the middle of the pandemic and we were wearing masks, so we had no clue what the other actually looked like. Joe approached me and told me I looked familiar which I later found out was a lie. Me (Cecelia) being super competitive, proceeded to out-climb him on a route he had been working on for about an hour. Although he was brave enough to approach me, he was not brave enough to ask for my number, so I had to play detective on social media with the help of several friends. It would suffice to say that I "slid into his DMs" and the rest was history <3.

We share a love for the outdoors and adventures which is how we spent our first several dates. With our 2 year anniversary approaching, we decided to take our first weekend get-away-trip together at New River Gorge. I was VERY suspicious because I am incredibly inpatient. When we got there, Joe decided that we were going to hike to Diamond Point. As suspicious as I was, I somehow did not make this connection. As we hiked, we took several detours to scope out some outdoor climbing routes and other scenic overlooks along the way. Once we got to diamond point, I leaned back against Joe to enjoy the view and noticed he was shaking and kept reaching into his pocket. He stood up and gave me an aggressive kiss in an attempt to push me off the cliff. As he held my hand, he got down on one knee and just stared at me for what felt like a minute. Because of my impatience, I blurted, "Well are you going to ask me?!"