Jared will tell you that he met Liz skiing. However, if you ask Liz for the truth, she'll tell you the third time's the charm. Liz went on exactly three dates in early 2018 as the result of online dating. The first two were – well, less than memorable – but on the third one, an instant connection! Liz spotted the man she was supposed to be meeting across the room in the Bolton Valley Ski Lodge (OK, so we did go skiing on our first date), and immediately felt like the floor had dropped out from under her. His smile lit up the room! After a fantastic evening of Jared showing off his mad ski skills (and Liz trying to keep up) and discovering their shared love of craft beer, Liz texted her best friend from the bathroom, and I quote: "OH MY GOSH, HE’S AMAZING.” … and the rest is history. ♡

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we decided to head to the mountains to backcountry ski. We hiked up Marmot Ridge in Hatcher Pass, and as soon as we reached the summit Liz pulled out her phone to start taking photos. When she was finally finishing up, Jared reminded her, "it's not over until we make it back to the truck," and kneeling down, "but I never want our adventure to end." He pulled off the perfect surprise proposal (even though Liz is really good at accidentally ruining surprises). It was a perfect blue bird day in the mountains: our favorite place in the world.