Vows in Vermont

On a sunny spring day in Stillwater, Oklahoma the Sigma Chi fraternity hosted a slip n' slide party off campus next to a farm. Madi, Kirsten's roommate in Pi Phi encouraged her to join--despite Kirsten not really being in the mood to go that day. As an Arizona native it was hard to refuse some time in the sun, so she reluctantly agreed. One "yes" that day on a whim, lead to her meeting the man who would someday be her husband. Kirsten and Grayson had a few mutual friends and often were at the same spots on The Strip, at OSU Tailgates and both were involved in OSU's close knit Greek Life. They most likely were within feet of each other dozens of times. Despite being on nearly parallel paths, until April 28th, 2018 they had never met...or even knew each other existed! Junior year of college was coming to a close and summer was on the horizon. The party was in full swing and many of the boys were sliding down the muddy slip n' slides. Kirsten took a break from the festivities to walk over and pet the horse she had spotted on the other side of the fence. She didn't want to get mud on her bathing suit, and she is a horse girl at heart. She was petting a sweet chestnut quarter horse with a white stripe on its nose when she turned around and Grayson was standing next to her. Her first impression of him that he was tall, handsome and seriously sweet. He either really liked horses too, or was really interested in talking to her. She guessed it was probably the latter. Grayson would later tell Kirsten years later that growing up, he vowed "he would never be with a crazy horse girl." But sometimes when you make plans God chuckles. After conversing alongside the horses at the party, Grayson invited her to dinner at El Tap on the Strip later that evening. Ensuing margaritas and getting to know each other over chips & queso, the two were inseparable the rest of the summer.