We're Getting Married!

I am very nomadic at my core, I love exploring new states and moving every 6-10 months. I grew up in Colorado, went to college in Utah and right after graduation I moved to Seattle, WA. Next it was Mattawa, WA, then Ontario, OR, then Big Sky, MT, then Grand Junction, CO, then back to Big Sky, MT, then Fort Collins, CO, then Granby, CO, and now Greensboro, NC. Because I was constantly on the move and loved new beginnings I never really thought I would ever find someone who would want to join me on all these adventures. I never prioritized love over adventure because I thought I had to pick one or the other. Our story begins at 320 Guest Ranch in Big Sky, MT. I had worked in Big Sky the winter before and absolutely fell in love with this snow mountain town. I worked at the Country Market in Big Sky and lived with the owners Lynne and Steven (my brother's wife, Katharine's grandparents). I also started shoveling snow part-time for the town center and ended up really enjoying the 2 am bliss of fresh snow. I knew next winter I wanted to return to Big Sky to plow snow full-time. This put me in a tricky spot because I did not have anywhere to stay since I was no longer working at the Country Market. I saw an ad on Facebook for 320 Guest Ranch that said they were hiring for the winter season. I called Ranch and spoke with Bethany and told her my situation. I told her that I am on call 24/7, that whenever it snows I have to go plow snow. Oh and I also have a wonderful older dog named Roxy. I said I will work whenever I can in housekeeping if I could live on Ranch with my pup. Bethany said come on over, we would love to have you and your pup. This is where I met Emily. Emily was a gentle blue-haired free spirit. I met her for one day before she left on a solo trip to the Pacific Northwest to see all the wonders the Oregon coast has to offer as well as go to the iconic Forks Washington (she is a huge Twilight fan). When she returned after her month-long trip we became really good friends. Emily also allowed me the honor to teach her to snowboard. We started on the bunny hill and it was early enough in the season that they had not put up the orange safety netting between the ski village and the bunny hill. The first time Emily was finally able to get upright on the snowboard she took off down the hill straight to the 8-foot drop entering the ski village (where the orange safety net was supposed to be). I remember trying to go as fast as I could trying to catch up to her yelling to just fall over. I caught up to her maybe 10 feet from the edge and had to shove her over. Emily was able to figure out how to snowboard incredibly fast and within a couple of weeks we were ready to conquer the mountain. We would help each other get all the rooms cleaned as fast as we could so we could spend the rest of the day snowboarding. By the end of the season, she was conquering the daunting Lone Peak Tram and all the double black diamonds. One late night on ranch Emily confessed her love to oblivious ol me. I had absolutely no idea (even though she left very obvious hints for months) but I was willing to see where this would go.

Upon arriving back to my home in Montana after some time away traveling I was greeted with an unfamiliar face. Her name was Megan and we would live in the same hallway in the bunkhouse and work together. She had this amazing dog Roxy that everyone already loved and she was always looking for someone to play board games with. I had just bought a snow board and had set my mind to learning. She insisted on teaching. We spent one blue bird day on the bunny hill together. Me falling over and over again, unable to even stand for over 15 seconds, and her right next to me always there to help me up. She patiently explained all the concepts of "using your toes and heels" and "don't catch a edge". She didn't even seem to mind that we were surrounded by 5-10 year olds. (and they were way better). The rest was history. Her patient and wise ways drew me in, I became enamored with this mysterious park ranger women that seemed to know how to do everything. We spent that winter snowboarding, skating, playing pool and throwing snow for Roxy. After months of pining and letting anyone within earshot of me know how much I wanted Megan to be my girlfriend. I finally had a few too many IPAs and let it slip. I told her I was in love with her. And now we are here, making a wedding website.

We had been dating for three years and I had already bought a ring over a year ago and I had already asked both her parents for their blessing. Now I was just waiting for the right time. I had a hard rule that I wanted to be with someone for at least three years before getting engaged. Emily on the other hand was ready to get engaged after a year. On our three-year anniversary, Emily started hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT), Georgia to Maine, 2,197.4 miles. She kept giving me a hard time asking when I was going to propose to her or if she needed to yet, once again, make the move. I told her "well, I was waiting for three years but I guess you had other plans like leaving to hike for 6-months". Thankfully our best friend Kat already knew that I had bought a ring over a year ago and kept Emily from impatiently proposing to me. Emily had started the AT late march and come end of May she was approaching Roanoke, West Virginia. There were plans for me to come pick her up in Roanoke for the weekend and kept asking if I could make it out to hike some of the trail with her before picking her up. Unfortunately with work, I was not able to make it... or so she thought. All of a sudden, one of the most iconic locations on the trial, McAfee Knob (part of the triple crown) felt like the right place and the right time to pop the question. Emily had been hiking with a wonderful group of strangers she met along the way that were also hiking the entirety of the AT. This soon became her amazing Tramily (Beam, Limpkin, Kaleidoscope and Night Pony) and I knew I would need their help to make this work. I texted Limpkin and told her that I would love to propose to Emily on top of McAfee Knob on Friday morning. Is there any chance you could plan out the miles to make this work so Emily is on the Knob for sunrise on the morning of May 31st. Huge shout out to the Tramily for helping make this work out, for pushing the miles, making sure Emily woke up that morning and helping guide her to the top of the rock first plus all the really cool photos. The next problem was hiking 4 miles up a mountain at 2 in the morning. Another one of my best friends, Julius helped solve this problem. Julius and I left Thursday night at 11am to drive to Virginia to start hiking at 2am to ensure we were up at the top of the knob by 5am. It was pitch black and freezing cold but we made it to the top a little after 4am. Now we wait and try to stay warm. Emily and the Tramily had make it to McAfee Knob the night before and were able to watch the sunset. However, there is no camping allowed at the knob so they had to hike down the mountain about a mile to make camp. Because of this, Emily had stated that she did not want to hike back a mile uphill just to see the sunrise because she already saw the sunset. The Tramily insisted that it would be the best sunrise EVER. A little after 5am, Emily was up brushing her teeth and they were about to start hiking up to the Knob. At this time, I was trying to find the perfect spot and claim the perfect spot. Other hikers were starting to emerge to watch the sunrise and I had to tell each one of them that I was going to propose to my girlfriend and I was going to do it at this exact spot so they can go anywhere but here to watch the sunrise. The Tramily with Emily finally make it to the top of the Knob. I am standing on the overhang that is the iconic McAfee Knob solo. The Tramily start to put all their gear in a pile and say they want to take solo pictures and Emily should go first. Emily looks up at the Knob and is like okay, but there is a stranger all ready standing up there, I guess I will just have to see if they are willing to move for the pictures. Emily gets about 30 feet away and still doesn't recognize and me. I say "Hey Em." Emily is like "it is you, OH... IT IS YOU". Her and I talked for a few minutes, reminiscing on the relationship and then I get down on one knee and ask her to marry me. Of course she said yes.