Squeak here – I can’t believe Amelia let me do this, but my side of the story is better anyway ;) Our story dates back almost 10 years ago…

2014: One of my buddies played basketball for Luther College and I’d often make trips to Decorah to watch him play. He was dating a girl, now the maid of honor in our wedding (shoutout Brynner!), and her roommate happened to be Amelia. Each visit would usually end up with all of us hanging out together, and although I’m sure Amelia never saw it this way, I always saw it as sort of a double date. Through all the time we spent together, I learned that Meels was from Colorado and grew up skiing in the mountains. Growing up in Wisconsin, our conditions are just a little worse compared to what they have out there, so I was very jealous.

2015: I decided to move out to Colorado for the ski season and worked at Winter Park, which is coincidently where Amelia grew up skiing. As a liftie, I would see thousands of people a day for a split second as they got on the chair lift, but I just so happened to meet Amelia’s parents one day. A couple came through the lift line wearing Luther College gear and in our brief exchange I told them my buddy plays basketball there, they said their daughter goes there and although I yelled for them to ski back down and talk over my lunch break, I never saw them again. I texted my buddy to tell him about this random run-in, and a few hours later I got a text from Meels, “I heard you met my parents today?!” I knew Amelia secretly liked me all along as she put in a good word and her parents graciously let me stay at their cabin the following few years when I would go to Winter Park over spring break. Super nice of them considering we hadn’t even officially met and Meels and I were nowhere near dating…yet.

2016-2017: I started working at The Annex and would still often go to Luther on the weekends, and inevitably would end up hanging out with (and hitting on) Amelia. Over the summer, I went to Decorah for Nordic Fest and had a great time tubing on the river and dancing at the bar with Meels. I thought things were going well until she ghosted me a few days later. Confused, I reached out to my buddy, and turns out Amelia apparently “had a boyfriend back in Colorado.” Bold move considering we had hung out all weekend. To anyone who knows Amelia well from home and is wondering, “How did I never hear about this mystery boyfriend back in Colorado?” Well..it’s because HE. DIDN’T. EXIST. She just wasn’t looking to get into a relationship and avoiding was supposedly easier than just telling me that. Graduation came and went, Amelia went to grad school back in Denver, and I continued working at the Annex.

2019: Brynne organized a group to go to Oktoberfest in LaCrosse (yes, I am just as surprised as you that Brynne of all people was the one to coordinate) and invited me to tag along. It’s a rare occurrence that I can get away from the Back Bar on a weekend, but I went to LaCrosse and spent the weekend with Meels, Brynne, and her family. We started talking again that weekend, and spoiler alert, this time I wasn’t ghosted! Meels’ first trip to Platteville was for my birthday party bus, I asked her to be my girlfriend that weekend, and now we’re getting MARRIED!

2023: Don’t even get me started on the proposal story…

I told you my side of the story is better. Winter Park has been an integral part of our story since the beginning, and we can’t wait to celebrate with all of you in our favorite place!