Cross-country skiing is a winter activity that we love sharing with each other. When we first started spending time together two years ago, it was mainly by cross-country skiing here in beautiful Western Wyoming. It was Sunday, January 18th, 2026 when we went to ski up in Grand Teton Park, just about an hour and a half north of where we live. We chose a trail to Phelps Lake from the Moose-Wilson Road. It was a difficult ski in from the road since there hadn't been any fresh snow in weeks and the trail was hard-packed from hikers, icy and uneven - not great for skiers. But it was such a beautiful scene through the forest and along a creek, we didn't mind. We got to the lake and realized it was frozen. There were two groups of people ice-fishing on different spots on the lake. We decided to ski across the lake to a little peninsula with some big rocks, a perfect spot for lunch. Julie took her skis off and immediately climbed up onto the biggest rock that stuck out from the land into the lake. Justin, still on the ground, took his skis off and said, "I think you should come over here for a minute." That's when Julie knew something was about to happen. She asked if she should come down, and he said no, he liked her being so high up. After saying some nice things, Justin asked Julie to marry him. She said yes! We enjoyed our lunch, smiling and giggling, comparing all the thoughts that had been running through our heads in the weeks leading up to this moment. Julie thought he was going to propose over Christmas at his parents' ranch in Colorado, and was honestly kind of peeved when he didn't! Then she thought he might do it skiing together the weekend before this proposal, and she may have dropped a little hint. Justin revealed that he had planned to do it over Christmas. He'd had the ring since before Thanksgiving actually, and he put it in the glove box of his car to bring it to Colorado. However, the dang handle on the glove box was broken, and he couldn't get the ring out, it was stuck in there! On Christmas Eve at the ranch, while walking over to the river with our fishing gear, Justin said he forgot something and would be right back. He went to see if he could open the glove box quickly so he could bring the ring, but it wasn't budging and he didn't want to keep her waiting too long. Julie caught a massive fish that day, and Justin wished he could propose right then, but decided to wait until he had the ring. When he finally did it weeks later, it took him 45 minutes to open the glove box so he could get the ring out. Julie was happy to hear that it wasn't because he didn't want to propose then, he just couldn't! The shenanigans that led to this proposal are part of what made it all the more special. We're both very happy and excited to be planning a wedding now, and can't wait to share it with all of you.

Julie and Justin both work for the Bridger-Teton National Forest, based out of the Afton, WY office. Justin has been a Fisheries Biologist here since Fall of 2019. Julie started out here on the Wildlife team in October 2023. We saw each other around the office, but didn't talk much for the first couple months. It was after the office Christmas party when a few people went to the bar, and we finally talked and played a game of pool. Usually, Julie is quite skilled at pool (though she didn't say so at the time), and Justin went on about how bad he is. Somehow, Justin kicked her butt at this game. Julie thought he was just full of crap, hustling. It wasn't until January when we cross-country skied together with another friend from work, Kara. Julie had recently been on a few bad Hinge dates and asked Kara to take a picture for her dating profile. Kara joked to Justin - "Hey Justin, take her picture for her dating profile." He mumbled to himself something along the lines of "screw that" and skied away. After taking the photo, Kara said to Julie, "You know, Justin is single! He's a really good guy!" The seed was planted. The day before, Julie had just picked up a new bed, and it was still in the back of her truck because she needed help unloading it. After skiing, she asked Kara if she could come help her, maybe stay for a drink, and to bring Justin if he wanted to join. He did. A week later, Julie met up with Kara and other friends, including Justin, at the cutter chariot races. As soon as Julie was done catching up with some ladies, Justin approached with a quick "Hey Julie how's it going?" We talked about cross-country skiing, and Justin got her phone number. After the races, a group of us went to a bar. Julie was then trying to rally people to go play pool at a different bar, but most of them weren't interested. They asked if Julie could drive Justin home so they didn't have to go out of their way. She agreed. Once in the truck, she asked if he wanted to go play pool. "Let's do it," he said. She didn't know it yet, but Justin had been interested in her since the Christmas party, and Kara was working her matchmaking magic to help us connect. It finally worked! A few games of pool and a few drinks later (don't worry, we were within walking distance at this point!), Julie was hungry for dinner, but the kitchen had just closed. Justin said he has some elk he could cook at his place. Julie's face lit up. From then on, we started spending time together regularly outside of work - cross-country skiing, taking turns making dinner, and playing pool at the bar. One week in February, the only night that Julie was available happened to be Valentine's Day. Justin cooked a delicious elk dinner at Julie's house, she made some side dishes, and of course there was red wine and chocolate involved. While watching a movie after dinner, Justin made the move, taking our relationship from platonic to romantic. We haven't looked back since!