THE BEGINNING

Hollis and Kevin met for the first time while volunteering to drive tipsy alumni around in golf carts during Stanford Homecoming 2016. Hollis was a first-year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering, and Kevin was in his fifth year of an undergrad program slowed by sports and a double-major.

Hollis remembers seeing a flash of gold out of the corner of her eye (Kevin was wearing gold Nike basketball shoes) and thinking "this guy is definitely on the cross-country team." Kevin remembers seeing Hollis and thinking "nah she's too beautiful, she'll never talk to me." They did end up talking, but both were seeing other people at the time, and they didn't see each other again for a few months. By then both were single. After a remarkably mature conversation about not wanting to waste each other's time if they weren't serious, they started dating in March 2017. Hollis had just gotten out of a long-distance relationship and wasn't looking to do that again, but she decided Kevin was worth the trouble...

THE CHALLENGING PART

In early 2018, just a year or two shy of full prefrontal cortex development, Kevin decided to go be a professional full-time athlete, which meant leaving California. By then Hollis and Kevin had been together for about 9 months, and Kevin cried while packing his bags. Hollis made the brave decision to trust that Kevin wasn't heading directly down a path to financial ruin (he was).

Being in a long-distance relationship was hard for Hollis, but there were some advantages: she could study harder for her PhD qualification exams without Kevin around to distract her, and she could use her flexible schedule and international conferences as an excuse to meet up with Kevin as he traveled around the world. For Kevin's part, long plane flights and drives between training camps gave him plenty of time to worry if he had made the right decision. Had he reached too far for a speculative Olympic dream, neglecting a surefire dream grinding her way through a PhD in Palo Alto?

THE EVEN MORE CHALLENGING PART

In the end, Hollis passed quals and the decision for Kevin to come home was made for him. After going to 18 countries in 18 months, his savings ran out. With less than $1000 to his name, Kevin returned from a race in Japan and moved in with Hollis (and her four roommates). Hollis and Kevin made their tight finances work, but when Kevin got a "real job" again in October 2019, it was a massive relief to both of them.

Spring 2020 was the end of the fourth year of Hollis's PhD, which was a do-or-die point in the program. Without much mentorship from her advisor, and with the pandemic complicating nearly every aspect of life, she felt she had no choice but to finish what she started. Kevin learned a lot in this period about how to be a supportive partner to someone doing a super hard thing. After the 2 years of emotional support that Hollis had given Kevin during his sporting career, he was more than happy to return the favor.

This was around the time that Hollis and Kevin first started to talk about being together forever. They did all the fun things first: honeymoon planning, venue selection, what music they wanted. But they agreed the time wasn't right; Hollis wanted to be done with school, and they both wanted to be financially stable enough to throw a kick-ass party.

THE REWARD

Finally, in the fall of 2021, the academic space-time continuum bent towards justice. Hollis's suffering over the past 5 years was rewarded with a triumphant PhD defense, and Kevin threw her a joyous dance party with friends and family to celebrate. She was finally Dr. Crowder, although to this day she hates that moniker and only uses it when someone is being a jerk over email. The following spring, her dissertation was accepted, and she walked at graduation, which brought a whole new round of laughing and crying.

After graduation, Hollis and Kevin made some life changes. Hollis followed her heart out of mechanical engineering, which had been her academic home for 10 years. They moved to San Francisco, a place neither had previously considered but now seemed like the right place for this phase of their lives. Their first attempt at the move failed spectacularly, but the second attempt went off without a hitch. Their rented condo in the Inner Richmond is a dream come true, and feels like home.

THE PROPOSAL

Finally, after their first summer in San Francisco in 2022, the couple decided it was time. They talked about which ring Hollis wanted, and Kevin made a plan to buy a cheap placeholder ring from Macy's for the proposal. Kevin then accidentally left a picture of the placeholder ring up on his computer monitor, and Hollis saw it when she came home from work. It was, shall we say...not what they had talked about. So instead, they drove together to a real ring store to get the real ring, reflecting in the parking lot afterwords that, "we really just did that."

The ring wasn't supposed to be ready by Christmas, so Hollis didn't suspect a thing when the couple went home to Colorado for the holiday. Kevin insisted, 3 separate times, that they bring skis "just in case. They're free to check, after all!" His plan, rush-ordered ring in his pocket, was to propose during a backcountry ski tour on the continental divide.

But when they arrived at the trailhead, the weather was apocalyptic. 50mph winds and sideways snow caused the group of 4 (including Hollis's dad and sister) to abandon the tour before it even began. Kevin, sleepless for a week beforehand, was devastated, and Hollis, knowing nothing about Kevin's secret plan, was happy to head for the local bar. At the bar, Kevin sipped sadly at a bloody mary as the group laughed about the failed adventure. But he got up the courage to ask if they could go back up to the pass, "just for one picture."

Even though it wasn't perfect, Kevin tried to sum up their 5+ years together in a 30 second speech and got down on one knee. Hollis doesn't remember a single thing he said, but remembers she cried happy tears and said yes. The video turned out great (thank you to Hollis' sister, Gaelyn, for her excellent camera work!).

THE WEDDING

Hollis and Kevin will walk down the aisle on September 7, 2024. It's been a long journey, and they can't wait to bring together the people that mean so much to them, in a place that captures the essence of what it means to be Hollis and Kevin: beautiful, slightly challenging, emotion-inspiring, and above all, outdoors. Colorado is Hollis's childhood home and Kevin's adoptive one. This weekend, they hope to show you why!

Rocky Mountain National Park