i love you higher than the mountains, faster than the rivers, thicker than the forests.

allison was dave's third, fourth, or fifth tinder date of the week (it's hard to say, the story always changes). regardless, she was his last tinder date of the week, and the last first date he ever went on. they went to a thai restaurant in boulder for dinner. allison commented on how neatly he ate his noodles. dave suggested ice cream after. it was 25 degrees outside. allison said definitely not. they went out for drinks instead. dave ordered a hot toddy which allison thought was wonderful. dave talked about backcountry skiing of which allison knew absolutely nothing about. allison talked about her best friend steph and her dog abbey and how she thought they were both the best. dave walked allison back to her car and commented on her bike helmet in the back. allison laughed and thought "well, this guy has no idea i've been riding my bike with almost flat tires because i don't know how to work my bike pump." dave remembers thinking allison was fun. allison remembers thinking dave was smart. seven years later and dave still lights up when he talks about his next ski adventure. allison still lights up when she talks about abbey or steph. allison still doesn't know what a derailleur is or what it means to be "freeride." dave still eats a nightly bowl of ice cream. and so sometimes it seems like not all that much has changed in 7 years. dave is still the messy haired dude allison couldn't wait to tell her friends about. allison still can't wait to hug him every time she sees him. they both think this is all still pretty amazing.

it was abbey's eleventh birthday. abbey's birthday is historically allison's favorite day of the year. it was also right in the middle of a global pandemic. they went hiking to celebrate (abbey's birthday, not the global pandemic). dave thought it'd be really fun to hike to "a nice bench" off of the walker ranch trail. allison made fun of him because "who chooses their hikes based on the benches they offer? I don't want to hike to a bench." but they hiked to the bench. when they arrived, dave set up the tripod and they started taking silly pictures with abbey. actually, when they first arrived, there was a really interesting looking bird and dave took photos of the bird for, no joke, 15 minutes. after some awkward moments when allison suggested they head back to the car and dave defended the need to stay at the bench a bit longer, dave walked back to his backpack with abbey. he had created a bracelet on the ring box to allow it to attach to abbey's paw. he and abbey walked back toward allison, dave asked abbey to "sit" and "shake" so she could hand him the ring box as he got down on one knee and asked "allos, will you marry me?"