In late summer of 2020, amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic, Brent and friends decided to head to the San Juan Mountains (from Michigan) to climb their first 14er (a mountain over 14,000 feet in elevation), Mount Sneffels. Brent was looking online for a mountain man and reached out to me as he was passing through Montrose. Over the coming months, we stayed connected, getting to know each other more with every message. In February 2021, Brent moved from Michigan to the Denver area. By April, he had made his way down to Montrose and we met for the first time.

We went skiing at Monarch Mountain for our first date. I quickly knew that Brent was the person for me. Only a month later, I asked him to date me. For the next year and a half, we took turns traveling to see each other, as Brent lived in the Denver area. Every opportunity we had, we skied, hiked, kayaked, camped, and ate Olive Garden - Brent's favorite restaurant. We fell in love. Brent moved to Montrose a few days after Christmas in 2022.

Since then, we have continued to explore the Western Slope of Colorado. Almost every weekend, and a lot of week nights, we head to the mountains to explore. Along the way, we've gone on other adventures too, from our annual road trip to the Allen family's beautiful cottage in Northern Wisconsin to flying in a helicopter over glaciers in Whistler, Canada. With every adventure, we've grown closer together. Brent is my everything.

Ever since my first Colorado vacation right after graduating from WMU in 2017, I had a pretty good feeling that Colorado could be the place for me. As the years went by, I visited Colorado for ski trips and camping trips. In the summer of 2020, I really started to get the itch to move, but I needed a promotion first. In the fall of 2020, I was promoted and shortly after I told my manager I wanted to move from Michigan to Colorado. Remote work rules were a bit fuzzy, but I decided to start looking for places to rent with my college friends Austin and Dan. By January 2021, we had found a house and set out a plan to move.

In February of 2021, I moved myself, and many plants, from Michigan to Colorado. The trip took 2 days, it was cold, and I had to bring plants into my hotel room. After a month of setting things up in Roxborough Park, just SW of Denver, it felt like it was time to explore a bit and that's when I decided to visit Kendall in Montrose. We had connected on my trip to climb Mount Sneffels in August of 2020 and had stayed in touch.

We went skiing for our first date! I got a pair of rentals and we spent the day together at Monarch Mountain. Not only did I find a man in Colorado who was caring and beautiful, he was into skiing too! One of the big selling points of Colorado was year round activities. I felt like I was wasting my winters in Michigan (no offense Michigan you're beautiful too).

In a matter of months after I moved to Colorado, we went from friends to lovers. Fast forward to Christmas 2022, after many camping trips, ski days, hikes and other adventures I moved my life up and over the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide to Montrose to begin our days (even closer) together. I was a bit nervous to move and leave my front range friends behind, but our life together felt more important. My love for Kendall helped me sacrifice local Denver treats like Olive Garden, Panda Express and Chick-fil-A. This is when my love for Colorado's Western slope really took off. Thankfully, I still travel back to the Denver area several times in the spring and fall for concerts, friends, and MORE SKIING. Montrose is home now, and my #1 person is always right by my side. Love you Kendall.