Cheryl:
"When I first met Cory, I had been living in Santa Fe for two years and was working part-time at the Lensic Performing Arts Center and waitressing part-time at my friends restaurant, Apothecary Restaurant and Oxygen Bar in downtown Santa Fe. I was falling more in love with Santa Fe by the day and knew I wanted to put down roots. However, I was warned by many single women that the ratio of women to men was big and that finding a mate was difficult. Yet, I never let that advice sway me from my optimism! [Fun fact: I received a tarot card reading a month earlier, revealing that I would soon be in a long-term relationship.]

May 2019, it was a slow day at the restaurant, and I was daydreaming about what I'd rather be doing. I was near the front door, maybe cleaning off a table when Cory walked in. I first saw his profile out of the corner of my eye, which then immediately was followed by a slow motion double take. Wow, I thought. I immediately scurried to the back of the restaurant and told my co-worker that my "crushtomer" had arrived. I continued to gaze at him from behind the counter until I made my move to go talk to him. Fast forward to our first date two days later. I had worried that because he was so handsome that he would be shallow and vain, however, the more we spoke, it was like we had met before. He was kind, thoughtful, funny, passionate, nerdy, dedicated, driven, sweet, a wonderful listener, attentive, and dreamy all rolled into one. He was the man of my dreams! After getting drinks at the local pub, we took a walk to a bridge and shared our first kiss."

Cory:
"I had always planned on visiting New Mexico, particularly Angel Fire, but it never happened until May of 2019. I had been single for many months and focused on self-improvement, dedicated to training and building the new life I wanted. After being in isolation over the entire 2018 Fall/Winter, I settled on a mountain biking trip to Santa Fe as the first voyage in my new RV.

During this time of self-improvement, I also decided on finding a partner that had all of the qualities I was looking for and none of the red flags I was used to prior. Leading up to May, I would regularly say outloud that I would find someone who was more of an artist or yogi, fun loving, free spirited, and cared about the important things in life; oh and also had a nose ring!

After 6 weeks of off-grid preparation with the RV, on May 4th, I left Scottsdale Arizona and headed for Santa Fe, NM. Before I left, I met with a friend who was continuously lamenting over a girl who was clearly not a great choice anyway.

Upset with his incessant commentary and victim mentality, I said, " Just for you, to show you how easy it is with the right mind set, I will meet someone and set a date the very first day I am in New Mexico".  

In the first day in Santa Fe, I decided to check the downtown area out first. I spent half an hour walking around and checking the menus from different restaurants until I landed at the Apothecary Restaurant & Oxygen Bar. After being seated and left with a menu, my server apparently changed, and I was unexpectedly greeted by a bubbly, lovely, brown eyed girl named Cheryl.

After our first interaction, I was already excited to ask her out. Of course, I needed to ask about the procurement of local cacao, hemp hearts, and CBD to continue further dialogue. As our special interaction was coming to a close, I asked for her phone number. She replied with a warm smile that it was already in the bag of items I purchased.

Two days later, we met at Honeymoon Brewery. During 2018, I decided to begin living in an RV and wanted to travel more while working remotely. This is a bit strange, and I was curious about what she would think of this. Early on that evening, she mentioned looking for an RV and that she had just gotten a truck for that exact reason. I smiled and said I was living in an RV and parked at the Rodeo Grounds."

The Proposal:
September 29th, 2021: We had been living in our RV on our 20 acres, which we purchased in 2020 together. We know what you are thinking, buying land together before marriage? Yes, it was a bold move, but we both knew our relationship would last. We had been working tirelessly building everything from our driveway to the trails to the composting area and so on. We tried to do everything ourselves but, of course, hired contractors and professionals to permit and pour our concrete foundation. Once the concrete finally dried, we were able to dance and imagine our lives in the space. On September 29th, we went on a night hike. Under the diamond studded sky, we walked into the foundation of our house, Cory got on one knee, and Cheryl said yes! The rest is history...