We're Getting Married!

It was June 9th, 2021. I (Tiffany) had just finished a hectic morning of Vacation Bible School at my church. Sitting at my desk at work, winding down from the morning, I opened up the good ole dating app, Bumble, that I had been on for a month or so. A swipe left. No, not my type. Another left. A right, but I would never follow through. More lefts. Left. Left. Left. Wait. This guy, this guy looks promising. A Christian. A skater. A barista. A youth pastor. Long flowing hair and a pristine mustache. Now this guy. He was absolutely deserving of a right swipe. But he didn't use his Bumble, instead, he left his Instagram username and said if anyone was interested, to find him there. And so I did. His Instagram was even more impressive, and the more I scrolled, the more I knew I was interested in him. After some coaxing from a friend, I finally worked up the courage to send him a DM. It took him 8 hours to respond, and I was sure for a while he thought I was weird, some stranger sending an Instagram message. But then finally, I got a reply! We talked for a couple days before he asked if we could finally meet in person. We had our first date at Switchback Coffee, went and got lunch, and then finished the day at the skatepark! And it was pretty quick that both of us knew that the other was worth pursuing. <3

It was Christmas time, and we made plans to attend the Electric Safari at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. This was the second time we had been to the zoo together, and tagging along that night were two of my best friends, Amy & Karley. We all met up in the gift shop, taking in the warmth before we headed back out into the cold to explore the zoo! We stopped at the giraffes first, then took a peek at the sleeping lions before making our way up the mountain to see the elephants! We stopped first to see the singing penguins, which was so much fun! Finally it was time to make our way to the elephants. If you've never been to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, there is a long bridge to get to the elephant barn, which was covered with lights on all sides, even hanging above you! At the end of the bridge there is is a little area to stop which over looks a very large portion of Colorado Springs. We had stopped in this same place to take a picture the first time we came, and so I wanted to stop again to take another one in the same spot. Dustin recommended we take a "panoramic" picture to get all of the city lights in the background. "Panoramic" was Dustin's secret word to Amy and Karley that he was about to propose, who were in cahoots with him to take pictures. After taking a "panoramic" picture, Dustin turned to me and after a few sweet words, he dropped down on a knee and pulled a ring box out of his jacket pocket, and proposed! I barely let him finish his questions before I immediately replied yes and gave him the biggest hug and kiss! There were other people watching which I had no clue were there until they started clapping! So after a few more hugs and kisses and Dustin decorating my finger, we got to explore the entire rest of the zoo as a newly engaged couple! We then went home where my parents had cupcakes and champagne and celebrated our engagement!