Zeke and I met at a social dance group. We didn't know each other very well, but Zeke worked with my Uncle Troy. Uncle Troy had told Zeke to ask me out many times, and had backed up his argument with some stories about me. One night at dance, Zeke opened our conversation with, "So, I hear you're the only person I know who can catch a seagull!", referencing a story Troy had told. He later said, "He also told me I should ask you out." I was confused. "Are you going to ask me out?" I asked, after an awkward pause. Zeke's reply was, "So, will you go on a date with me?" Our first date was the next Wednesday evening (it couldn't be on the weekend because I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday). We went to Ambo's Ethiopian for dinner, bowling, and Winco for ice cream. We talked for about four hours, and by the end I figured that I'd give him a shot at a second date.

About a year and a half after we made our relationship official, on August 10th, Zeke had planned a hike up to the Winchester fire overlook. I had my suspicions about the hike, partly because I knew that the fire overlook was a special place for him, and also because Zeke doesn't usually plan things more than a week and a half in advance, and this hike had been on the calendar since June. But, I convinced myself that it probably wasn't going to happen, especially since I'd given him a haircut the day before, and told him specifically, "Don't propose to me with an ugly haircut." And, when he, his sister and brother-in-law picked me up the day of the hike, he was impressively casual, and I didn't even notice when my sister snuck him some jewelry to wear in photos later (apparently, she gave him an entire outfit earlier in the week). On the rest of the drive up to the trailhead (which included getting stuck in the washed-out gravel road), he was still so relaxed that I was beginning to forget about my suspicions. Just below the top of the hike, we followed a side-trail that lead to an overlook above Twin Lakes. That was where Zeke got down on one knee, and I don't remember entirely what he said, except that he'd gotten my dad's permission, and he didn't have to do any more convincing for me to say 'Yes!'.