Emily's Version:

Max and I met in passing through mutual friends in 2020 when picking up Max's raft. At some point we followed each other on social media. In January 2021, Max "slid into my DMs" replying to a story while I was skiing with girlfriends in Crested Butte. After watching Max's story of him out snowmobiling, I thought he seemed pretty fun and asked if he wanted to ski sometime. We set up a time to ski the following week. We met up to ski and after good conversations on the lift and good skiing, we went out on his snowmobile with our good mutual friend Brett McClure. Later on, Max took me to the pizza shop he worked at, which was closed that day, and we made our own pizzas (his was much better than mine - hence my beginning of learning a good sauce to topping ratio!). I immediately felt a connection and feeling that I wanted to spend all of my time with him. I promptly canceled a date I was supposed to go on the following day and Max and I went skiing together again. As cheesy as it sounds, I knew almost immediately that what I felt for Max was something special, something I knew would last. We spent our time between Denver and Frisco and after a month we went on our first vacation to Utah together. I was a little hesitant but was nothing short of excited to ski Snow Bird, Brighton, and spend more time with Max. We had such a fun time and when we got home Max asked me to be his girlfriend. We've always celebrated our anniversary as the day we met though, because we both agreed "we knew the very first day." After that our relationship continued to develop as we faced the challenges of a short, but long distance relationship, eventually Max moved to Denver with me, and then most recently we've moved up to Summit County. I fell more and more in love with Max the more I got to know him. He is gentle, kind, hard working, determined, positive, and silly. I love the way he loves others and the way he loves me. We've had a whole lot of good times and faced some difficult times, as our relationship grew but I always felt supported and that we could tackle anything together. I knew Max was who I wanted to celebrate with, adventure with, and face all of the difficult times life brings with. Max proposed while we were backpacking in Zion National Park. A huge part of our relationship has always been our love for the outdoors, sharing adventures together, and our family and friends. You all are so important to us and our lives and relationship wouldn't be the same without you.

Next up: Marriage!

Max's version:

Some would call it love at first sight :) Being a pizza boy at the time and knowing I was about to hang out with this beautiful sophisticated nurse had my nerves at an all time high but sure enough I had to shoot my shot. Day one of being properly introduced, we meet just next to the lift at keystone, I was so nervous I had gone and bought a beer to calm the nerves. Next thing I know, we are sitting on the chair lift together from what I thought might have been a date, to her, might have been a hang out day to go skiing and make new friends, me nervously sitting on the lift next to the most beautiful smile, drinking my beer and making small talk decided to ask Emily if she wanted a sip of my beer... It was back wash by the time I handed it to her.... how embarrassing, I thought I blew it! Emily being the kind hearted person she is was able to laugh it off with me, it became a long running joke. The day ended up being fantastic, it was so good we decided to hang out all day the next day, and the next. After realizing that we had been together for 3 days straight, It was easy for me to know that she was my person and the one I was going to marry. I remember telling most of my friends, This is the girl I'm going to marry, unbeknownst to her. Without a single thought of wanting any of my own time again, I knew I had to go to work in capturing her heart. As you read above, the adventures started, and she was just as happy as I was to be experiencing these adventures with me. Shortly after the two of us starting seeing each other, and having long conversations on the phone, I knew I had to make it official before anyone else got in the way! I was quick to ask Emily to be my girlfriend maybe 10 days after ever meeting each-other, I could have asked her to marry me then but didn't want to scare her away, so I decided we better slow down and proceeded to dream of the day she would be my wife. A few years later, that day is set to be true. Emily is the Love of my life and I can't wait to continue this life with her. Thanks to everyone for reading and supporting us!