We met while working on a dude ranch in Colorado called Lost Valley Ranch. After butting heads a few times, we decided to actually sit down, have a conversation, and ended up becoming friends! The longer we worked together the more we came to respect and enjoy one another's company. While Moriah was working in the kitchen and Zach in the corral, we were able to see each other continually grow and consistently pursue "best things." As a result, we came to admire and respect the other; as our time at the Ranch continued, we found ourselves falling deeper and deeper into...friendship (as the Ranch had a no dating policy between employees). Our random conversations continued to become more natural the longer we worked together. After three years Zach decided to move to Fort Collins in order to resume his education. His departure opened the door for a potential relationship which, after a 3rd date consisting of a 27-hour road trip culminating in a snow storm in Georgia, turned out to be a smashing success! Moriah continued to work at the Ranch for another 6 months, giving us a chance to struggle through long distance and the Ranch’s Wi-Fi. After many pixilated skype calls, long drives, and even longer letters, Moriah decided to conclude her time at the Ranch and move to Fort Collins as well…

Zach had been taking class at the local community college in preparation to transfer to Colorado State and was working at a local restaurant called The Emporium. After we got Moriah all moved in and settled, she began job hunting. After three weeks of searching, Moriah found a job at another local restaurant called Locality. She was hired to work a line position, however after three days working on the line she was pulled aside and offered the soon to be available position as Pastry Chef. As she had graduated from culinary school with a concentration in baking and pastry, this was, to quote Chef Dryden, “serendipitous.” Needless to say, she happily accepted! Despite busy work and school schedules, we tried to always have the same days off. When Moriah wasn’t graciously waiting for Zach to finish his homework, we spent our time playing cards and games, biking around town (or more accurately relearning to ride a bike for one of us…don’t worry we made sure to get her a helmet), enjoying evenings on the back patio, or just enjoying a few episodes of the Office. Here and there we even saved to go out for a nice dinner, or even better made time to prepare one ourselves. As time continued, we both began not feel more and more as though our time together was far more natural than that apart. What is more, it was good. Not simply enjoyable, but uplifting, encouraging, constructive, empowering, sometimes challenging, and honestly just fun…

From the beginning we knew we were friends. The reason we were dating was to see if our relationship, and the potential for marriage it was intended to explore, was the best thing. After a year of dating, we began to think about this question more seriously. As time progressed, we began to believe our relationship was a best thing, and as we discussed marriage with each other (as well as many people we respect) we began to believe marriage would be a best thing as well. We had been talking pretty seriously about getting married. We even took a day to go visit five jewelry stores just to help us both understand what Moriah might want (and yes, it was very different at every store). It is important to note here that one of the many wonderful skills Moriah possess is the ability to always know exactly what I am planning and thinking…specifically if it’s a surprise. Thus begins one of the great endeavors of our age: the secret. Despite my occasional comments indicating I needed more time to consider our marriage, I was in reality actively pursuing our engagement. I had sat down with a jeweler at a custom design studio to begin discussing a hand-crafted ring to match Moriah’s unique interests. I was then able to fly out and spend a day in Georgia with her parents talking through our relationship, potential marriage, and asking for their blessing (which I somehow didn’t technically ask for until we had talked for 6 hours…oops). They were very kind, provided some great conversation and food, and did, after I finally asked, give their blessing. I flew back to Denver that night, and began the engagement ring designing process the next day. Over the next three weeks I spent 18 hours designing, and more planning…all under the claim that I had a ton of extra homework (unfortunately that part really was true…). Despite the many times I almost gave it all away, our families and I managed to keep the secrets.

Finally, the day arrived. We had not celebrated Valentine’s day in February and had been waiting for a nice day to do so. After Zach’s apparently far to hectic schedule, this day was pushed back to April 23rd (intentionally so that Zach could mask his proposal plans). Despite Zach’s continued efforts to add something more extravagant to the day (as he was planning to propose…), Moriah liked the idea of keeping our plans for a flexible day together. It was without question a great day. After touring the Celestial Seasonings tea factory and buying far too much tea, we enjoyed a nice Neapolitan pizza, found a wonderful old bookstore, generally wandered until we were ready for gelato, and then headed back to Fort Collins. Unknow to Moriah, Zach had been carrying the ring with him the entire day, hoping for the perfect yet unplannable moment to propose! We arrived back in Fort Collins just in time for the sunset. We headed up to Horsetooth reservoir and found a nice rock to sit on. Ironically, Moriah actually began a conversation about us and our relationship. We talked for awhile as the sun began to set behind the mountains, and for the first time voiced together that we felt marriage would be one of the best things for us. Zach began to propose by telling Moriah, as a result of his belief that our marriage would be a best thing, he had flown down to Georgia to ask for her parents blessing. She promptly responded, stating, “No you didn’t!” It only took three tries for him to finally convince her he had left the state on April 2nd (which we found quite humorous later that night). In the end, she said, “of course!”, and we were able to take our pictures and go celebrate with a few nice rolls of sushi!