Celynda “accidentally” stood Tim up for their first date to meet at REI, how romantic! Once the stars finally aligned, they met at Marble Brewery in Albuquerque for a beer. For Celynda, the deal was sealed when Tim carried Sadie on her first backpacking trip to a hot spring in the Gila Wilderness. A few months after that decisive trip, Tim moved to Albuquerque, finances became intertwined, and the beard has never stopped growing. A multitude of other adventures have occurred since then including: prolonged road trips throughout the west, Tim working summers on the cape, over 10 Grand Canyon backpacking trips, rock climbing, mountain biking, and many others.

It was just a regular day on December 26th in the McDowell Mountains outside Phoniex (well, it was Celynda’s birthday). We decided to get in a quick mountain bike ride before the drive back to New Mexico after the holidays. Halfway through the ride we stopped to relax in the shade of “Jackass Junction”; a desert oasis consisting of a lean-to with a Santa hat clad skeleton flipping us the bird as well as a plethora of beer can ornaments hanging from the rafters. Celynda set up her camera to take a photo. As the timer counted down from ten, Tim dropped on a knee and popped the question. To Tim’s surprise, she said YES!