Like every good love story, Michael and Jess were best friends before they fell in love. BUT little did Jess know that Michael was interested in her the whole time they were friends.

They officially became friends in August of 2022 from a mutual friend, BOCA! Jess was watching Boca's dog while Michael and Boca were at an Army Training event located in California together. When they got home from training Michael and Jess started hanging out all the time. They did pretty much everything together, without the pressures that can come with dating. They tried to give dating advice to each other and got to see each other's relationships crash and burn (in the nicest way possible). All of their friends were counting down the days until they both realized they had feelings for each other.

After about a year of friendship, Michael finally made his move. Jess was reluctant at first, because she didn't want to ruin their friendship, but knew this could be the best relationship if she gave it a chance.

After a year of dating, Michael decided it was time to pop the question with LOTS of hints from Jess He planned a whole vacation in order to properly propose. This included camping in Lake City and finishing up the week with a 18 mile hike around Maroon Bells. Colorado weather had other plans for him. It rained and poured the first 3 days of vacation, tired and wet and in typical Jess fashion she wanted to cut the trip short. She didn't understand why he kept saying this trip had to be perfect. Michael was nervous he wouldn't have a chance to do it, so we proposed in Lake City, right by the water. Jess was in SHOCK, as she thought he was taking her there to break up. After the biggest YES of all time (eventually) they proceeded to enjoy the rest of their vacation and make more memories. They never did make it to the 18-mile loop, but that trip made them fall in love with downhill biking.

Colorado is where we fell in love, so what better place to celebrate our love. We hope you all appreciate the beauty within in this magical place and the mountains will always be our home, wherever the military takes us.