Our story begins thanks to a few very important people and a little bit of perfect timing. I met Shane through mutual friends Susie and his older brother, James. At the time, I was the maid of honor in a wedding in Seattle. One of the guests at that wedding was Susie, and as we got to chatting, I mentioned that I was planning a move to Portland, Oregon.

As it turned out, Susie owned a house in Portland and had plenty of extra space. The only catch was that she needed to check with her current roommate, James, to see if he’d be okay with another person moving in—and of course, we needed to meet to make sure we were roommate compatible. James and I met, he gave the green light, and the rest is history. Before long, James, Susie, and I became close friends (and yes, both will be in the wedding).

Shane was living in Montana, but when the economy took a hit in 2008, he moved to Oregon to work with his brother. James officially introduced us, and our first date was a Harvey's comedy show, setting the bar early with lots of laughter. We started out casually dating, keeping things light and fun, before Shane headed to Utah for work in 2017.

That’s when things got interesting. I went out to visit him in Utah, and it was during that trip that I realized I was completely in love with him. We explored Salt Lake City and Park City. Then, on my next visit we headed south to Moab to see Arches and Canyonlands.

Since then, I waited patiently for a proposal...lol. We’ve thrown a surprise birthday party for my mom in North Carolina, traveled to Cancun, Mexico with good friends, and eventually moved in together. Somewhere in between all of that, we completed our first McMenamins Passports as a couple, which took us all over Oregon and up to Seattle, Washington. We stayed at several McMenamins hotels, soaked in more than a few soaking pools, and bobbed our heads at concerts. For context, some people finish a passport and become a Cosmic Tipsters in about a week. It took us roughly seven years… are you sensing a pattern here?

It may have taken him far too long—but I was completely shocked (and obviously said yes) when Shane proposed on June 28, 2025.

He makes me laugh, makes me feel incredibly loved, and is good with my son and two fur babies. He has the brightest blue eyes, some seriously impressive biceps (not that I’m keeping track), is fully committed to Halloween couple costumes, never shies away from my very full social calendar, and somehow agreed to learn pickleball with me after I may have mentioned wanting to learn a few too many times.

This story is very much written in my voice, but Shane did read it and gave it a thumbs up.

We can’t wait to celebrate the next chapter of our story with all of you!

Registry