Our love story began when Katie stumbled across Colton's TikTok one day and thought to herself..."wow, what a mustache". She jumped straight to Instagram and followed him without giving it much thought. Colton immediately followed her back and patiently waited to respond to an Instagram story Katie posted of a picture taken while flying around Boise as a Flight Instructor.

The DM's quickly turned into texts, and the texts turned into nightly Facetimes that would go on for hours and keep both of them up way past their bedtimes.

After a month of all-day texting and nightly Facetiming, Colton made the trek out to Boise traveling from Easton, PA. Their first trip was filled with CrossFit, baking, and a trip to McCall (where Colton asked Katie to be his girlfriend via a cute note) - this trip also threw Katie's mom into a panic.

Shortly after the first trip, Colton couldn't stay away and returned to Boise a second time, and the relationship continued to bloom with more baking, gym dates, and even attending "Letterkenny Live" (3.5/10...would not recommend)

The time had come for Katie to make the cross-country journey when she visited Colton in Easton. The trip started with an extremely cold and wet drive from JFK airport in Colton's topless Jeep (It was at this moment, that Katie thought she might've made a mistake). While in Easton, they saw all the sights (all 2 of them), did more CrossFit together, and surprise...more baking.

Knowing that Easton only impresses so much, Colton whisked Katie away to New York City, where they planned to do all of the fun, tourist-y things (walk around Manhattan, eat Juniors Cheesecake, take in a Mets game). However, Mother Nature had other plans when a storm rained out the game and they decided a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant with a great Happy Hour would be a good replacement.

Colton continued racking up frequent flyer miles during the summer of 2022 visiting Boise twice before volleyball season started. These trips included a road trip to Salt Lake to meet Colton's parents and celebrating Katie's birthday on arguably the hottest day of the year at an outdoor winery.

During the summer, Colton had accepted a new job at Murray State in Murray, Kentucky. After three, extremely long months and a multi-engine license for Katie...she made the trip out to see all that Murray had to offer (a pretty nice Walmart, MEGA Gym, and of course...Racer Arena). She was able to watch Colton coach in person and baked the best banana bread Colton has ever consumed.

After Colton's season ended, he came to Boise to visit for the entire month of December. This was the first time Colton & Katie got to feel like a "normal" couple and do normal people things.

Colton took Katie to work, became a regular at Katie's gym, and binged almost every single Hallmark-style Christmas movie that Netflix had to offer.

The beginning of 2023 was extremely busy as Colton had made another move to Missoula, MT to coach at the University of Montana. Katie was also making big moves by starting her career at SkyWest Airlines and being in the midst of her initial training in Salt Lake City.

During a break from training, Katie used her flight benefits to visit Colton and see Montana.

In July 2023, Colton and Katie decided they had had enough of doing long distance and made the bold decision to move in together. This included packing up Colton's apartment, an 8-hour road trip, and even some dirt roads in the middle of nowhere Idaho...or maybe Montana...who knows.

This move also culminated in Colton getting out of coaching and marking the start of a new life...together.

After three separate visits to Puppyland, Katie and Colton brought home their perfect angel baby, Toast, on November 9th, 2023.

Katie and Colton have never been more exhausted while also having their hearts so full. I mean...look at that face, how could you not fall in love?

With the help of Home Run Properties (shoutout Katie’s parents) Colton, Katie, and Toast moved into their new home together in Meridian, Idaho. They have since decorated it to match their "vibe" (including all of the beiges)

On November 23rd, 2024, Colton proposed at the Scandia Inn in McCall, Idaho. This was the exact place where Katie had taken Colton back in February of 2022 on his first trip to Boise. It holds a special place in their hearts as this is where their story truly started and where the next big step begins.