I first met Rachael in Fort Collins, CO while roadtripping with my buddies Kieran and Chris to help move Kieran out to start his clinical year of Veterinary School. His roommate happened to be Rachael, and I fell in love roughly 35 seconds after meeting her (I fell in love with her dog, Ollie, at first sight). Rachael was obviously not as enthralled and generally unaware of me as a romantic prospect. She finally figured out that I was head over heels for her after my 3rd trip back out to Fort Collins that same year under the pretense of visiting Kieran and "fishing." She was generous enough to accompany me for a skiing/snowboarding date at Loveland Mt. It was here where she was first treated to a display of my elite athleticism and balance as I skidded down the mountain on just about every body part but my skis. I am convinced that it was this impressive display which first won her over, because she came out to NYC soon after to visit me. It was there that I sealed the deal by dazzling her with my knowledge of art and culture as we toured MoMA (Thanks Grandma Sandy!) and walked the High Line. She was blown away by my knowledge of which teenage mutant ninja turtles had painted which paintings and architectural insight ("tall building. over there."). We have spent two out of the last five years finding ways to be together, whether it was her visiting me in Grenada; staying together during her veterinary internship in Montrose, CO; exploring Utah, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming in search of Yellowstone Cutthroat trout, the perfect red rock hikes, and horseback rides; or wine tasting with her parents in Santa Rosa, CA. We were finally able to start our lives together in Brooklyn and now Syracuse, NY where we continue to grow our love and list of places lived. We hope that you will be able to join us in celebrating as we start our next chapter in the Mountains of Rachael's childhood!

On the coldest weekend in February 2023, Andrew, Ollie, and I headed northwest a few hours from our tiny Brooklyn apartment to his Grandparent's cabin in the Catskills. Despite the frigid temperatures (the low was -9*F that night) we needed the escape from the city, to stretch our legs on some hikes, and to visit a new Cider House with his sister and Henry. The plan was to hike Saturday morning then spend the day at the dog-friendly Seminary Hill Cidery, but as our 8am departure time arrived Henry suddenly had a "work call" and the temperature had barely peaked 4*F, so Carrie decided to stay home with him and Ollie (that's too cold for a Caribbean dog!). At this point I think Andrew worried I would back out of the hike, but I was headed to Alaska the following month to work in colder conditions so I wanted the practice- and the weather guaranteed we would be the only ones on the trail. We stopped at Dunkin' for coffee and hot chocolate and headed out to a new trail along the Delaware River. We managed to get lost a few times- low trail maintenance in the middle of winter- but finally made it to the peak where Andrew set up a tripod to get the overlook pictures of the two of us, triumphant in the now 8*F morning air. After a few pictures he got down on one knee, and- despite his past displays of coordination and athleticism- managed to pull a ring box from his pocket, not drop said ring over the cliff, continue to take pictures from the tripod by pressing a button in his other pocket, and string together a beautiful proposal! We all know what the answer is, but the story and surprises do not stop there. We popped a small bottle of Prosecco on the way back down the trail, and headed to the "Cider House" with Andrew offering to start calling family to notify them as soon as we got signal again. I pulled into a large house that had no signage of being a cidery- but Andrew promised we had the correct location, and there was a variety of cars along the driveway... We stepped inside and were surprised by friends, family, grandparents, and MY PARENTS who had flown all the way from CA (can I tell you how much my Mom hates the cold?!) to be there that weekend. The whole house had been beautifully decorated in sunflowers, meals were going on the stove, themed drink (Cooper's Copper Mule), olive (Oualie's olive bar), hot chocolate (Chokmo's Hot Choc), and Sundae stations (Sunday's Sundae bar) were available - and the bedrooms had personalized towels and our "Wedding Post" announcement of the engagement. The rest of the weekend is a bit of a blur of happiness, but was spent catching up amongst amazing food, drink, and company. Andrew and his cohort of secret planners had truly outdone themselves to make that weekend the best surprise of my life!