We are telling Covid to hit the road and are determined to celebrate our marriage prior to our first anniversary. Chris and I are so excited to have a blast with our friends and family out in nature. If you missed our specially awkward and amazing ceremony filled with happiness and love, you can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKZz4ruR6iY

This is Tracy here...I'm going to tell our story, but Chris may jump in and add details. I had noticed that one of my friends, Toby, from Michigan had a cool looking friend who happened to live in St. Louis. I was intrigued. I mean who doesn't go for a long haired music-lover who tells neat stories and takes pictures of awesome food? So one day, I started a playful conversation with Chris via Toby's Facebook page about Meijer, a Michigan grocery store, and Schnucks, a Missouri grocery store, hoping Chris would notice that I also lived in St. Louis and was single and looking to meet someone awesome. We totally hijacked Toby's conversation about whether or not Meijer could be made plural or possessive by adding the "s." At that time, Chris was driving a semi-truck and not really in the city much, but after some more chatting, he said he would be at Mom's Deli Saturday, May 6, 2017 and that I should join him. I actually had two dates already planned for that day, but fit Chris in for dinner--a girl's got eat! I didn't really think he thought of it as a date, but was hoping I could somehow impress him. We ate microwaved sandwiches and walked down to Ted Drewe's for ice cream...I didn't want the time together to end, as I knew immediately in person why I had been cyberstalking Chris. We continued to chat via the World Wide Web and found time to meet once more in person before deciding that we wanted to be a couple a month later. The first few years were a bit like a long distance relationship with us being able to have dates every other week or so. But we also had great adventures with me joining him in the semi truck for two spring breaks, lots of camping, and trips to Michigan, Memphis, and Tennessee. We love cooking together and pioneering new roads, locations, and events.

Tracy again--I knew that I wanted to marry Chris probably after our first trip in the semi truck together when he fake proposed to me with Taco Bell sauce packets. When he gave those to me probably about 10 months into our relationship, my whole body went mushy with happiness...I wanted it to be real. It was a little too soon, though, and I'm glad we took time to deepen our relationship before we said "I will." Apparently, he had planned to ask me during a planned trip to Vegas in March of 2020, but unfortunately that was cancelled due to Covid-19. He kept looking for another time to make it special and to ask, but the whole world seemed turned upside down and all the events that would have made it memorable turned into puzzle nights, bread making, and evenings cuddled up watching LOST on Hulu. Then, in the summer of 2020, I went up to Michigan for a week on my own to visit my family. It was the first time I had been away from Chris since February, and the absence was strong in my heart. I knew that I couldn't wait any longer to know for sure that we were going to be together forever, so over Facebook, late one night, I asked him to marry me. He said, "Yes!" We made it official as soon as I returned from my trip to Michigan.