We're getting married!

When UTA re-opened their campus in the fall of 2021, I had just moved to Arlington and was excited to finish up my degree in person. Hoping to meet some new friends in a new city, I joined UTA’s rock climbing sport club. That’s where I met Paige. At the time, she was vice president of the rock climbing club, and a damn good climber. Furthermore, she was the smartest and most beautiful person I had ever met! After our first meeting at UTA’s rock wall, I quickly found myself doing everything I could to spend as much time with her as possible, which was easy to do, because we had so much in common. We were climbing partners at Dyno, then pool partners at Caves. We were meeting up at 4 Kahunas and waxing poetic at Cartel Taco. We swapped books and favorite songs, shared life stories and tequila sodas. Although no one on the climbing club was surprised when we finally admitted we were dating, I think we surprised ourselves with how quickly we were falling in love. It wasn’t long before our entire lives became intertwined. Her dog and my cat became our pets. Our brothers and parents became our families. Our separate lives became our life together. We knew we wanted to get married, and so in the fall of 2024, I set to work on a proposal. Paige and I had talked about getting engaged that fall, but as the end of the year approached, I believe she thought I was going to push the proposal back until after the holidays. So, when we flew out to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving with my family, she had no idea what was planned. I tried to keep the surprise going as long as I could, but I’m told there were some obvious signs along the way. We started our day on a train downtown, hopped over to Balboa Park on the E-bikes, and spent our time riding around, touring museums, and wandering through the parks and gardens. As the early evening approached, we caught the train back up town, and rode the bikes to Torrey Pines state beach to catch the sunset. At this point, Paige must have been very suspicious because I have never expressed so much interest in a sunset in my entire life, nor have I ever been the one to rush someone else along! Moreover, when we were greeted by my two friends, Carson & Andrew——and when Andrew conveniently had his camera handy——there was no denying the moment unfolding. After racing to the cliffside overlook, just in time to catch the sunset, I turned to Paige, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry me. With a resounding yes, the day-long proposal was over, and our joyous engagement officially began!

Shortly before Connor and I met, I joked with some friends that I was done dating rock climbers, but the night we met, there was an immediate spark. Of course, we met at the climbing gym. I was judging tryouts for an upcoming competition, and Connor was trying out. Afterwards, a bunch of us decided to grab some food, and although I usually don’t open up easily to strangers, we had such a fun, easy conversation during the car ride over. It felt like I had known him forever and I remember thinking how lucky I was to meet someone so wonderful. I kept my promise about not dating climbers for a few months as we grew closer as friends, but the more I got to know Connor, the more I just wanted to spend time with him. I found myself at the climbing gym more, secretly hoping to see him, and I’d stay out a little too late chatting over drinks after practice. Finally, one night at the Tiki lounge, he kissed me. Since then, we’ve built a beautiful life together. We introduced our pets, his cat Oni and my dog Benny and adopted our second cat, Sundae. We both finished college and launched our careers. We’ve made great friends and introduced each other to old friends (he won a skeptical Maddy over with his cooking skills.) We’ve gotten to know and love each other's families and gone on countless trips to California. On one particular trip to San Diego, Connor planned a whirlwind day of exploring for us. We spent the day biking through Balboa Park and ended with a sunset hike at Torrey Pines. It was perfect. And then, as we reached the ocean overlook at the end of the trail, he asked me to marry him. We’re so excited to celebrate our future together with all of our loved ones in November!