Zachary and I met early in life when he became good friends with my cousin, Jeffrey. Their mutual interest in the outdoors brought him closer to our family, and they would frequently join my Papa and Father for hunting and fishing trips. When waterfowl season would roll around, Zachary and Jeffrey would head up to the house after school and stay the night to hunt first thing in the morning. Those evenings before the morning hunt would consist of Zachary and Jeffrey shooting each other with airsoft guns and Emma and I painting their toenails.

The years passed, and Zachary grew closer to our family. He and my father grew very close with one another through their mutual love for the outdoors. As soon as hunting season came and passed, they were already making plans for the next season. A few of those adventures included me. One memory in particular: Zachary and I were on the Mesa, and I had a rifle cow elk tag. We left the truck and went looking for elk; after a long hike with no sign of elk, we returned to the truck, where we realized Zachary had locked his keys in the truck. And we had no cell service. So, Zachary casually picked up a massive rock and threw it through his side window. Completely unphased by the events that just transpired, he reached through and unlocked the truck, and we headed back down the mountain. This is when I knew he was not like the rest. He has always had this calm demeanor about him. (which is good since I can be the opposite at times!) To say we complement each other nicely is an understatement.

Time continued to fly by, and our lives seemingly continued down different paths. Zachary went to work in the oilfield, which took him all over the country, and I was working my way through college pursuing my Nursing degree. I occasionally kept in contact with Zachary, updating him on life and the things he missed while working. I never thought anything of a relationship with Zachary until a few years later when he found himself back at my parents' house on the Mesa. We invited him to come with the whole family to continue the tradition of cutting down a Christmas tree. After a long day of hiking and finding the perfect tree, we headed home. Something about Zachary is he is always down to play into crazy ideas. I talked him into doing the 'one chip challenge' with me. This chip is made in a laboratory, and handlers should wear a hazmat suit when taking the chip out of the wrapper. We ate the chip, and "I made Zack look like a little girl because I don't have any pain receptors in my mouth from drinking an unhealthy amount of hot sauce growing up." These are Zachary's exact words.

As the evening events ended and everyone went their separate ways, I sat down with my family and began talking about life with my parents. My father brought up boys in my life, to which I responded I was not talking to anyone that piqued my interest. Then he brought up Zachary, saying that we have so much fun together and he sees us having a close connection, to which I admitted I thought he was cute. Well, word got out that I might've had a small crush on Zack, and the next thing I knew, he asked my father's permission to take me out on a date. ( He also bribed me by getting me flowers and writing me a love letter.)

We agreed to keep everything lowkey until we knew how this whole thing would pan out. Our first date took an interesting turn when we were sitting in the parking lot of Strayhorn in Fruita, waiting for our reservation. We were sitting in the truck talking when a familiar vehicle pulled into the parking space directly across from us, and I realized it was my brother… My brother and his wife stepped out of the vehicle and began walking inside the restaurant. Turning to Zachary, petrified, he asked if I wanted to continue the date here or go to a different restaurant. I immediately said, "No, take me far away from here." We settled at the Strayhorn in Loma! And the rest was history. Zachary and I perfectly balance each other. I can't believe I get to marry my best friend!