Chris has a preferred way of telling people about the beginning of our time dating and it is described by date numbers 1 through 4.

After some diligent match making and encouragement, Lance, Chris's good friend from college, encouraged Chris to text Ari. (This is Lance's official shout out!) Chris asked Ari to dinner later in the week. Ari was stubborn and decided that she wanted to get the date over with so she asked Chris to move the date up to that night. With little notice, Chris picked Ari up and they went to the Ale House for dinner. An awkward first date turned into hours of stories and laughter on the patio of the restaurant. When the date came to an end, Chris did not want to wait long for the next date, so he asked Ari to lunch the next day.

For date number 2, Chris took Ari to lunch at Rockslide Brewery located in downtown Grand Junction. After lunch, Chris wasn't ready for the date to end and offered to go for a drive through the Colorado National Monument. This is one of the most beautiful roads in Grand Junction and takes over an hour to drive through. We would get out at many scenic stops and continued to share stories with each other. Resilient to keep the date going, Chris took Ari to Barnes & Noble to impress her by buying a book. (Said book remains unread- Chris is no reader, but is definitely a schmoozer).

Date 3 is often brought up in good laughter. New to Colorado, Chris wanted to take Ari on a hike but was unsure of which one to do. Sticking to her stubbornness, she was adamant on Chris picking the hike. With a little help from AllTrails, Chris took Ari to hike Liberty Cap Trail... at one o'clock... in August. Chris wasn't familiar with the high desert heat in Grand Junction, and quickly discovered this wasn't one of his best ideas. Of note, Ari remained very hesitant about Chris throughout all of these dates.

Date 4 was where things really turned around in Ari's heart and brings us a lot of sweet memories. Chris picked Ari up with some coffee ready and we drove to the Ribbon Trail to watch the sunrise over the entire valley. This was followed by breakfast, then lunch, then dinner, and we did not want the date to end!

Our dating season was so sweet and intentional, we found so much that we love about each other and knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We love to hike, camp, ski/snowboard have game nights with our friends, spend time with our families, and just do life together.

Ari spent months nagging Chris about getting engaged and he did a good job keeping a straight face because he was already planning on the same. We got engaged April 7th in Mexico on the beach during a lightning storm. Despite being nosey while packing, Ari had no idea Chris had the ring with him.

Now, we are counting down the days until we begin our married life!