We met on September 13, 2021, just a few days after Ethan moved to Nashville from Portland. Ruthie promised to show him "the most fun Monday night of all Monday nights." The night began at Urban Cowboy, a cozy cocktail bar near Ruthie's house. From there, we wandered hand-in-hand through the neighborhood, went dancing, and ended the night playing music under the twinkling lights of Ruthie's porch. Ruthie was so smitten she couldn't sleep for hours after Ethan left. What she didn't know was that Ethan hadn't gone far - he was fast asleep just a few blocks away in his Subaru Outback. That first month, while searching for housing in Nashville, Ethan lived out of his car and occasionally showed up to Ruthie's house with a bag of laundry. The running joke was that he was only using her for her washing machine. Thankfully, Ethan soon found a place to live (with a washer and dryer). At the time, with Ethan new to town and Ruthie planning a move away from Nashville, neither of us knew where things were heading. But we kept spending time together. After camping trips, Saturday mornings at the farmer's market, and plenty of live music, our connection grew into something deeper. Ethan first told Ruthie he loved her that April at Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta. By then, Ruthie had already decided to move to Denver in the fall to chase her dreams of the mountain west. We spent the summer treating it like our last, and when Ruthie drove away for Colorado in October, the goodbye was heart-wrenching. This could have been the end of the story. But it's true when they say distance makes the heart grow fonder. We made it official, and our era of long distance was action-packed: road trips across Colorado, skiing in Montana, and Ruthie's first visit to Black Butte with Ethan's family. After a year of countless trips through Denver International Airport, Ethan flew out in October 2023 to help Ruthie move back to Nashville. We drove away into the (metaphorical) sunset and have been building our life here ever since. Two years later, on September 13, 2025 - exactly four years after our first date - Ethan proposed. Over the years, our love and commitment have only deepened. We've supported each other through big changes, celebrated successes, weathered setbacks, and navigated that mid-twenties soul-searching phase of discovering who we're becoming. Through it all, we've built a relationship filled with joy, adventure, and laughter. It's the honor of a lifetime to step into this next chapter surrounded by the people we love most. We can't wait to celebrate with you.