let's party

Our story begins in room B112 of the La Paz dorm at the University of Arizona. It was freshman move-in weekend, and my mom was helping me build a lamp for my dorm when the next thing I knew a large conga line of my fellow students stormed through the hall. James and his high school friends (self-named the Nomads) were all part of the conga line, and I remember James asking me to join in. I declined because I was an awkward freshman with my mom. The next day, my suitemate Rachel who coincidentally went to High School with James came in jumping straight to the chase asking me “Hey! Did you meet my friend James last night?” with the biggest smirk on her face. From that first conga line moment forward, James became one of the most important people in my life. We spent more time together freshman year than we probably did with anyone else. We were the same major and in almost all the same classes, so naturally, we walked to classes together, did all of our homework and projects together (even took each others class quizzes, I'll let him tell you that story), and really we just developed a great friendship for over a year before we started dating. Fast forward a few years, add in some long-distance, HOURS and hours of facetimes and phone calls, a 4-year stint post-grad in San Francisco where we started our careers, and a COVID move to Bend, OR, and here we are! The past 8 years have been filled with many ups and a lot of downs but what's always gotten us through it is our foundational friendship, ability to make each other laugh, and how much we genuinely really like being in each other's company. One million things make up everything I love about James but what I love about him most is the person I’ve become alongside him as we've grown up together all these years. I cannot be more excited to start this new chapter of marriage together & celebrate it all with you!

It was move-in day at Colonia de la Paz dorm and I noticed a pretty girl moving in down the hall from me. I didn’t know her name yet, but I begged her roommate to introduce me to “the girl from Colorado”. It was (for me) love at first sight and I took every opportunity to spend time with her. We walked to class together, ate at the dining halls, and spent late nights studying at the library. Despite all this, I was still firmly in the friend zone. I knew though that my patience and persistence would pay off and she would eventually come to her senses (queue “The Tortoise and the Hare” analogy). Fast forward to Sophomore year, and after months of not seeing her, I had actually started dating someone else. Taylor arrived back in Tucson from summer vacation and I took one look at her and - this part is true - I dumped my girlfriend the very next day. From there, the rest was history. We started dating shortly afterward and started our adventure that leads us to where we are today. From our hardships of dating long distance, to our wacky apartment in San Francisco Chinatown, exploring our new home in Oregon, and becoming newly dog parents, our life has been exactly that - a true and total adventure. We don’t know where life will take us next, but I’m glad to have Taylor by my side. It worked out for this Tortoise.

It was James's bday weekend and he told Taylor that all he wanted to do for his birthday was go see this snowboarding short film that a local theatre was showing downtown. He told Taylor that due to COVID the theater was doing a lottery system to win tickets to a private showing of the film. A couple of days before the movie showing James showed Taylor an email he received saying he had been chosen for the tickets to the show. Taylor agreed to go to the viewing (slightly reluctantly) because after all.. it was HIS bday!! We get to the theater, the movie starts and a few minutes in the film goes black, Taylor starts looking around like "uhh.. is someone gonna try to troubleshoot this?" when BAM James's sisters pop up on the screen followed by Taylors parents (https://youtu.be/NVdKxFqc590). The snowboarding film quickly turns into a home video filled with messages from all our family and friends, James gets down on one knee, and Taylor half crying, half giggling (if you know her at all you already know the noise) says "YES!!!" 2020 really did turn out to be OUR YEAR <3 We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you in the Willamette Forest!!