In March of 2011, Nora and I were set up for a school dance. Too nervous to make contact in person, we avoided each other in the weeks leading up to the big date. On the night of the event, I arrived to the pre-dance hangout where Nora and the other girls had been primping and pampering themselves to perfection. With slinky-curled hair she opened the door to greet her unfamiliar date. The words poured out as I greeted her by saying, "I like your hair." To which she responded, "I like yours too." The night was already off to an awkward beginning, and beyond both of our beliefs, our evening continued to grow in its gracelessness. Our scrawny cross country legs failed to move with any rhythm or beauty; ankles were sprained, toes were crushed, but laughter was had. With a gut instinct and some encouragement from our nearby friends, I mustered up the courage to ask her out after a few short hours of sweaty and clamorous dancing. "So, I was thinking, maybe we should date," I stated. She replied bluntly, "Sure." And thus began our awkwardly magical love story...

Our hair was almost as wild and free as our souls during our adventure out west. I watched as his blue eyes danced around taking in every inch of our surroundings, and throughout the whole trip the sides of his lips had a tint of a smile, even while he slept. We had been in the car for most of the day, aside from randoms stops to take pictures or sight-see. We started to drive into the mountains of Wyoming, and while anywhere would have been an amazing place to camp, I pointed to the top of a mountain off in the distance. Being particularly picky but ever so excited about camping in such unfamiliar surroundings, our faces remained glued to the windows of the car as we slowly inched our way up the mountain pass. We finally got to the top of the mountain and if we would not have documented this spot with photos, I would have to believe my memories were nothing but a perfect dream; places like this had never existed to me before. We were completely alone on the Earth but had never been in such great company. The mountain top was covered with dainty blue flowers and green grass. He asked if I wanted to take our usual "family photo" before the sun set behind the mountains and I quickly grabbed my collection of "mandatory" cameras. As we stood there, I never noticed his hand-carved box in his pocket. We made eye contact, and I took in his every detail, from the way his eye lashes shaded his eyes, to how his loose curls were flattened from sleeping in the car. I suppose I should have felt his nerves, as I had expected from stories, but he was as calm as our surroundings. He expressed his feelings and I agreed to adventure through this life along his side. I love that mountain for hosting our experience. I will always feel indebted to that spot, as though it is a spot on this Earth that only Mason, Helen and I know about. We danced the evening away and welcomed the starry night, listening to music, eating canned soup and talking about our adventures to come.