10 Years of Memories

Austin and Alicia met in August 2015 through mutual friends. A few weeks later, they realized they were in the same university class—leading to some awkward carpool rides (thank you, Valerie Chan) and even more awkward small talk. Eventually, those awkward chats turned into uncontrollable giggling… which led to their professor kindly asking them to stop.

Their first official date was at Earls, and after a year of endless laughs and meeting each other’s families and friends, they made it official. Neither of them remembered the exact date, so- in classic Austin and Alicia fashion, they made one up: January 10th.

Their first trip together was in 2017 to Kelowna. It started off with kayaking and a visit to a kangaroo farm but quickly took a slightly more chaotic turn. Alicia had found a spot online that looked perfect for cliff jumping. After the cab driver got completely lost and dropped them off in the middle of nowhere, they wandered through the trees in search of the mystery location. Eventually, they found it. Alicia eagerly jumped in. Austin did too...once. That jump resulted in an emergency room visit after he blew out his eardrum.

Even after the unexpected trip to the ER, they ended each evening the same way: sitting on the rocks by the water, talking, and watching the sunset.

Then then came the infamous Mexico trip in 2018, when Austin flew solo to meet Alicia and her family. Within two hours of going out, he found himself ditched by Alicia’s brother, saddled with a very drunk family friend, and completely lost—with no phone data, no keys, no address, and no idea where the condo was. He hopped into a cab, hoping to recognize the condo along the way, only to realize after the third lap that the driver was just circling the block. Several hours (and one wrong condo fence jump) later, he finally gave up… only to see Tanner casually stroll up with tacos in hand and say, “Oh hey, Austin!” like nothing had happened.

Over the years, they’ve loved exploring the world together, sipping wine in Italy, Greece and Spain. They've also spent many weekends out at Wakaw Lake, relaxing and unwinding. Austin quickly won over Alicia's dad when he discovered they shared a love for playing guitar. No matter where they are, they always stop to relax and watch the sunset with a crisp glass of wine in hand.

Since then, they've moved to Calgary, bought their first home, and built a life of cozy movie nights, hosting friends and cuddling with their cat, Taffy.

Fast forward to 2024, and their next trip to Kelowna turned out to be even more memorable (though also not an easy one for Austin, who had to get the ring there). Between Alicia almost selling the old travel bag that held the ring and repeatedly questioning why Austin was so insistent on a pre-dinner walk so far away from the restaurant, things got a little stressful. But after dinner, Austin took Alicia back to a same spot from 2017—the same rocks where they sat, talking and watching the sunset. And there, Austin asked Alicia to marry him. Alicia cried like a baby.

Now, after ten years of memories, they're so excited to celebrate their next big adventure with all of you!

Notes: Add context to getting called out in classroom by prof and streamline that first paragraph a bit. Add context to the bag being searched.

A&A

Wedding Day