We are (still) getting married!!

Olivia and Blaize met in 2014 at REI new employee training. Blaize sat in the back making jokes while Olivia sat in the front row taking notes. In fact, Olivia thought Blaize's snide remarks were *particularly* annoying. Never the less, Blaize's extensive knowledge of shoes was more than enough to garner Olivia's friendship. Blaize can't take all the credit, though, or really any of it. It turns out Blaize and Olivia are both super awkward and only through mutual friend and REI coworker Junior spent time together.

Blaize and Junior thought it would be weird if the two of them went on a 6 month backpacking trip together. They did the only normal thing two guys would do and invited a girl they had little to no relationship with. Shockingly, Olivia agreed, and even more shockingly her parents funded the plane ticket. It turns out Olivia's favorite film of 2014 was Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon. Thus the three of them departed to the sunny border town, Campo, California, and began the journey of the summer of 2015... Things were going well until Olivia started popping blisters in restaurants. At that point, Junior ran and Blaize was stuck on triage. 2,100 miles and 2,100 blisters later Blaize and Olivia had fallen in love and headed home with one adventure concluded and many yet to come.

October 2019. Proposal season. Crisp air and falling leaves. Also the season of overcast skies, rainstorms, and hypothermia. Not to be deterred, Blaize scheduled a weekend outing to beautiful Shenandoah National Park for a morning hike. His plan was simple: hike to the top of a mountain, ask the dog for permission, get down on one knee, and ask Olivia to marry him. Unfortunately, Blaize’s map reading skills were a little rusty, or, maybe it was the rain clouds blocking the GPS… regardless, Blaize and Olivia somehow missed the top of the mountain and the view. Maybe walking downhill should have been a sign. But Blaize would not be deterred. He stealthily (debated by Olivia) and totally inconspicuously (also debated) transferred the ring box from his backpack to his pocket, got down on one knee in the middle of the Appalachian Trail, and asked her to marry him. She cried tears of joy and said yes!