Let’s just be honest here, you won’t be getting “his side” of the story. If, by chance, you want to swing by the house around 10:30pm when his work day is just finally winding down with a bottle of Beam and some cold pepsis in hand (oh, and pizza rolls!), then you might be in luck. But if you happen to live far away or don’t like pizza rolls (who even are you) or for some strange reason prefer to be crawling into bed at that time of night, then you’re stuck with my take on things. And so is he. :) One more important disclaimer: I’m a writer. So you best decide now if you’re really ready to give up the next 13 minutes of your life to reading the long version of our love story. Trust me, I won’t be offended in the slightest if you go ahead and skip to the photos page right this very second. I get it. But if you do want all the gory details on how the least likely people ended together, then buckle up.

I first met Kris on a particularly frigid night in November of 2016. I was working as a bartender at The Stable, a popular little watering hole in downtown Pendleton. It was a busy night, so I didn't really notice Kris at first. He ordered a bulleit and coke and sipped it quietly at the end of the bar, occasionally offering me a sympathetic smile as I bustled around. He stayed until closing time, clearly unwinding from a long day's work. (Are you noticing a trend here?) As I began washing dishes, he kindly asked me about my day and where I was from. I learned that he had recently finished a motorcycle trip around the country that had landed him in Wyoming for a time, where he rode bulls in the local rodeo. I was immediately intrigued by him. If you’ve known me long, then you’ll know that Kris is the epitome of my 16-year-old fantasy dream guy. All I ever wanted was a cowboy to whisk me away into the sunset, and now here was this bull rider?! Yes please. Our conversation ebbed and flowed, spanning everything from politics to family to whether we were dog people or cat people (dogs, obviously). The most infamous Megan-Kris story also took place that night, and it started with Kris offering me a compliment. I had mentioned that I desperately needed a haircut, and he told me that he liked the way my hair looked long. In true feminist-rant form, I turned it into a soapbox, wagging my finger about recklessly and threatening to shave my whole head if I wanted to. Ain't no man gonna tell me what to do! Kris just laughed kindly and told me that I'd probably look great bald too. It was then that I realized that I was no match for him. And thus, a crush was born.

It wasn't until after Christmas that year that I finally agreed to go on a date with Kris. He had asked me out a couple of times before, but I was still recovering from my past relationship and unwilling to give someone new a chance. As it turns out, he was still licking his wounds from his last relationship too. It was truly a miracle that we ever even looked in each other’s direction, seeing as we were both so convinced that the only thing the opposite sex was good for was breaking hearts. But then I heard him sing. It was a late night at the bar, and my coworker and I were still washing dishes and wiping down tables. As the masses began clearing out, Kris grabbed a guitar from the front stage and resumed his post at the end of the bar. He began strumming the chords slowly and softly singing a ballad about a man with a broken heart. Kris truly does have an enchanting, melodic voice, but it wasn’t his tenor that struck me that night. He wasn’t playing so that others would look, listen, and applaud his unparalleled talent. He was just playing because there was a song in his heart. He was so raw, so true, that I couldn't help but feel magnetized to him. And also my 16-year-old fantasy dream guy had just gone from a bull riding cowboy to a bull riding cowboy country music sensation. I was done.

Once I knew that I wanted to go on a date with Kris, I. made. it. happen. What he didn’t know about me then (and what he knows all too well about me now) is that when there is something I want, I make it happen. I’m a doer. So, I told him I was free the following night. Which was only partially true. My cousins would be visiting from Chicago that evening, but they weren’t expected to arrive until 10pm or so, and I wasn’t about to wait until the next weekend to get my date with my rodeo dream guy! I could tell he had scrambled to clean out his truck in preparation for our big date. He picked me up at my college house, bravely facing all four of my roommates. When he opened the truck door for me, I bit my tongue and thankfully accepted the gesture. I had vowed to try to keep my finger-wagging episodes to a minimum when I was around him. It is a vow that I have not kept even a little bit. #SorryNotSorry Apparently I was still feeling a little feisty on our first date, because, as he will tell you, I spent the entire car ride to the restaurant letting him know why there wouldn’t be a second date. I don’t remember it quite the same way. But regardless, we ended up sharing an unforgettable evening together. Although we were both a little nervous, we quickly settled back into our old habits and began swapping stories, debating politics, and cracking jokes. I didn’t want the night to end. So, in true Megan form, I made things happen. Kris returned me home, and as soon as my cousins Elise and Claudia arrived, I gushed to them all about my date. They said they wanted to meet him, so we headed for The Stable and I invited him to join us there. It’s crazy to think that my cousins (who have really always been more like sisters) were the very first people to meet the man that I am now going to marry. It’s a good thing they liked him as much as I did.

Not long after that, Kris tricked me into being his girlfriend. He told me that his family was asking about me and he didn’t know what to tell them. So we decided to go ahead and make things “official.” The joke was on him, though, because he had gotten himself a girlfriend only six days before Valentine’s Day. I had to work at the bar on Valentine’s Day, but he asked me to come over afterwards. Much to my surprise, he had filled the whole house with V-Day goodies. It looked like he had bought out Hallmark. I’m talking balloons the size of an intertube, 5-pound boxes of assorted chocolates, orchids, giant stuffed teddy bears...the works. And that, my friends, is Kris in his element. Kris goes big. For everything. Always. He loves to celebrate the people he loves. For my 23rd birthday, he flew my best friend out from North Carolina and orchestrated a huge surprise party that included my entire family as well as his. For International Women’s Day this year, he got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and cooked me dinner. When I caught the flu just a few weeks into our relationship, he came to my house with grocery bags full of tissues, chicken noodle soup, and fuzzy blankets. I tell you all this to set the stage for our engagement, because, you guessed it—it was nothing short of spectacular.

Fast forward 2 years, 7 months, and 13 days. Kris and I went on a camping trip with my parents at McCormick’s Creek State Park. That Saturday morning, after Dad cooked up some eggs and hash browns, the four of us went for a hike. As per usual, Kris stopped every 5 to 7 steps to examine a mushroom and tell us all its breed, family of origin, and classification. It seemed just like any other hike, any other day. When we reached a clearing on a river bed, I asked my Mom to take a picture of Kris and I. We walked over to a spot with a beautiful boulder backdrop, and Mom suggested we take off our backpacks. I complied, although I didn’t understand why it couldn’t look like we were hiking in the photo. What I didn’t realize in the moment was that she was trying to buy Kris some time. And that’s all it took. I turned around and he was on one knee. He had a ring box outstretched, although in all the excitement, he had opened it upside-down. He told me he loved me and asked me to marry him. I was so surprised that all I said for a few moments was “Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh.” I couldn’t even cry because I was so caught off guard. And if you know me, you know that tears are essentially my mode of operation. It wasn’t until after I had hugged my parents, taken a few posed photos with the ring, and cried ALL the happy tears, that I realized I wasn’t sure whether or not I had even uttered an audible “yes.” The whole thing was all such a blur, that Kris couldn’t remember either. Thankfully, my Dad had video footage. We went back to the tapes and confirmed (with a great sigh of relief) that I had, in fact, said yes.

Little did I know that I had played right into Kris’ hand. He had woken up early that morning and snuck over to my Mom and Dad’s campsite. Truth be told, he didn’t really have to sneak...I was dead to the world for a whole hour and a half after he woke up. And while I slept, the three of them devised a plan. It came out after the fact that Kris had met with my parents a full nine months earlier without my knowledge to ask for their blessing. They had been wondering when he might pop the question, and my Dad mused half-jokingly about setting an expiration date on their blessing. That morning, though, Kris knocked on the door of their pop-up, ring in hand, and told them that today was the day. His strategy was that at some point along to trek, my Mom would suggest that Kris and I take a photo together, giving him the perfect opportunity to ask me to marry him. Although I unknowingly did the work for my Mom by insisting on a photo, it explained why she kept wandering off all along our hike. She was looking for a good proposal spot. And here I was just thinking she just really had to pee. I really do have to give credit where credit is due: my parents played it so cool that I hadn’t been tipped off even in the slightest. The three of them had made it even more perfect than I could have planned myself. Kris had wanted to propose while doing something that we love to do (hiking + camping) and he knew I would want pictures (I most certainly did), but also that I wouldn’t want a huge crowd of people around. See what I mean? He is just so stinkin good at stuff like that. It was the perfect day. And it was perfectly us.

Now that you know a little more about how we got to this point, we couldn’t be more thrilled to celebrate our wedding and marriage with you! We hope our website gives you a better glimpse into who we are and that you will join us on our big day! Much love, Megan + Kris