It was 2008, the start of our senior year. Plymouth South High School had this strange annual fashion and talent show that most student athletes were required to participate in. My best friend, Michelle Ford, had signed up to walk with her friend “Pg.” I was required to sign up but I didn’t have anyone to walk with, so I waited to be randomly paired. A few days before the show, Shell got cold feet. “There’s no way I’m walking down a runway in front of all of PSHS just walk with Pg for me, he’s funny and thinks you’re wicked hot.” We dated briefly that year. But remained in contact when we moved to college even though I was in Connecticut and he was in North Carolina. He even came up to UConn and I’m pretty sure he still has a couple unpaired parking tickets(!!) from that trip. We eventually went our separate ways during college and it wasn’t until 2015 we were reunited - thanks to Plymouth for being the SMALLEST, big town. After running into some girls we graduated with in high school, Pg was reminded of me. Like any true millennial love story, he messaged me on facebook. And the rest was history.

Saturday, the 24th, we drove up to New Hampshire and stayed with some friends that were enjoying the weekend skiing at Attitash Mountain. We went out to eat and had some drinks, everything was perfect. Though, deep down I was a nervous wreck. The next morning I had booked a dog sledding tour through the white mountains. Tara and I woke up early to get ready and say good- I’m bye to our friends. I was nervous about the weather and dog sledding because the week prior it was unusually warm out. Luckily for us, a storm was brewing and we arrived at the Muddy Paw dog sledding kennel just as heavy snow was arriving. When we walked up, a gentleman named Wesley welcomed us. I apologized because we were late, as usual. We walked up to the kennel and Tara excused herself to use the restroom. I turned to Wesley and said, "you know what's going on right" and he said, "oh yeah, I got it under control." I was thinking great wow awesome whew ok! Tara came back and Wesley told us to say hello to the dogs while he prepared the sleds and hooked in the pups. It was a dream come true, a puppy haven. We finally got situated in our sled and before you know it we were off. 8 rescued huskies were pulling us through the mountains as the snow came barreling down. What a beautiful site. Twisting and turning through the mountains, the dogs working together so graciously. Wesley, said "Alright! Just up here we are going to come around a bend and stop, it's a beautiful spot for pictures!' Tara was fired up, I know she was. Pictures woo! He tied up the sled to a nearby tree and we got out. Wesley took my phone as I put my hand in my pocket to grab the box. My body turned to jello, I nearly blacked out. I turned to Tara and told her "hunny, I love you so much" dropped to one knee and popped the question. She didn't answer me instead she put her hands over her mouth in disbelief and started crying. I said "Tara! Come on, is it a yes??" She shook her head yes and gave me her hand.