Laurel and Eric met on Hinge shortly after Eric moved to Minneapolis to start his new position at the University of Minnesota. Laurel was drawn to Eric's outdoorsy photos (specifically one of him bouldering shirtless at Blue Mounds) and made the first move! Eric loved Laurel’s photos of her rock climbing and hiking. They met up for drinks at the Royal Foundry on 4/2/22 (the very next day after connecting online) and instantly hit it off—going on three more dates within a week. One of those dates was at Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls where they went rock climbing. Eric tried really hard to impress Laurel with his climbing ability and ended up sending several hard boulder problems (Laurel was impressed). They would go back often that first year with friends or just the two of them as Laurel was psyched to send one of her projects, which she ended up getting that fall. Their first year together was filled with travels and adventures—climbing on the North Shore of Lake Superior, seeing the Mississippi's headwaters at Itasca State Park, a road trip to Colorado to climb and see Laurel’s favorite band, Glass Animals, at Red Rocks, and a birthday trip to New York City (Laurel’s first time). In May 2023 they moved into a super cute duplex in Linden Hills steps away from Laurel’s work at Rehkamp Larson Architects. They love being able to walk, bike, and paddle around the chain of lakes. During the summer, they enjoy visiting the Linden Hills farmer’s market which is just a few doors down and in the winter, they enjoy nordic skiing, ice skating, and cozying up around their fireplace—the cutest in all of Minneapolis! Laurel and Eric’s 2023 and 2024 continued to be filled with love and adventures including an epic climbing trip to Spain. Labor day weekend 2024 they visited Glacier National Park with friends. After a morning of whitewater rafting, they drove up the Going-to-the-sun road to Logan’s Pass and hiked to Secret Lake. On the hike back Eric suggested they head down a far less busy climber’s trail. Laurel was a little wary as they had left their bear spray back at the car. After a little bit of coaxing, they found a beautiful overlook. There, Eric got down on one knee and asked Laurel to marry him on 8/30/24. Laurel answered with a resounding yes and spent the rest of the trip admiring her beautiful ring in the spectacular scenery of Glacier. They are looking forward to more adventures in 2025 and beginning the most important one yet in front of friends and family on September 20th at the beautiful Bloom Lake Barn, a short drive away from Taylors Falls where their love began.