We're Renewing our Vows

It was the beginning of college. Freshman year, meeting new people, general craziness. I lived on the third floor of Cushing House, a very small and relatively unknown dorm om Gonzaga’s campus. Ian lived on the second floor. I remember we were sitting on the balcony and I was talking with Ian and his roommate, Graham. We were just having awkward first coversations about what we did in high school and our hobbies. Ian was so shy, he hardly spoke two words to me. By September, we were all on a Freshman Games team together, which is how the freshmen try out all the different intramural sports. We got to know each other much better. In October, we went on our first date swing dancing on Gonzaga’s campus. I love our story, because Ian never officially asked me to be his girlfriend. Our friend Trevor asked us one day if we were official, we looked at each other, shrugged, and showed him our phone backgrounds were both a picture of the two of us. We had our first kiss in Cushing too. We were in the basement watching The Princess Bride, so that movie holds a special place in our hearts. Truly, we have GU to thank for our meeting.

We were driving together from Spokane so I could move in with Ian in Denver. Our route took us through Utah. About an hour outside of Grand Junction, CO, which was our stop for the day, I noticed something. As we were driving, I saw a sign for Arches National Park. Now, if you know anything about Ian and I, you know that we absolutely love the outdoors. Ian was driving at the time, and I asked him if we could make a pit stop in Arches because I really wanted to go. He asked me to look how far off the highway it was. We decided it was worth it to go check out. When we got there, we looked at a map and picked the one place we wanted to go to most in the park. We ended up chosing Balanced Rock and the two window rocks. When we got there, we walked around and explored the arches. Ian and I love to take pictures of oursleves by propping up the phone and setting a timer. We were trying to find the perfect spot. Ian couldn’t decide and kept saying “there’s too many people”. If I’m being honest, I was getting frustrated because I didn’t understand why he was being so picky. In retrospect, I totally get why. He spent about five minutes getting the camera propped up. Once he got it, he ran up to me, and proposed then and there. He’s so clever that instead of setting it up as a picture, he set up a video. So, there’s a video of the entire proposal. It was so amazing and unexpected! https://youtu.be/ch5NsRFCL_E

Now, Ian and I are living happily in Aurora, CO. Ian is working as a civil engineer for a company called Merrick & Company. He is a land development engineer AAAAND he does work for Chick Fil A (honestly best fast food restaurant). He has a great boss and great coworkers. I am currently a second grade teacher at a high needs school up in North Aurora. I love every second of my job and all my kiddos, even when they push me to my limits (which happens more than I'd like to admit). When we’re not working (hardly ever because I’m at school waaaay too late everyday (well, pre-COVID)), we love to take our dog Archie on hikes. Fun fact, Archie is a rescue we adopted and we named him after the national park we got engaged at! Can you guess which one? ;) We also have a little kitty named Kevin, who admittedly Ian likes more. What can I say, I’m a dog person through and through. We are so happy and can’t wait to get married!

After much debate and a wonderful small wedding last summer, Ian and I have decided to have an official vow renewal on July 9th. We are so excited to celebrate with everyone that was at our wedding and with everyone who couldn't come due to COVID restrictions. We are so excited to have a celebration of our love in Lyons.