We're Getting Married!

Some call it " love at first sight", but for us, it was love at first SWIPE. Yes, Melissa and I met one another on a dating app, called Bumble. For those who are not familiar with Bumble, it is a dating app where you swipe right for yes, and left for no where the women message first. Melissa's opening line to me was "Hello fellow Midwesterner!" Quite the opening line...however, it did work and I messaged Melissa back and eventually asked her out on a date. At the time we were both living out in Idaho, Moscow to be exact, and we went to what ironically was both our favorite place to eat, "Tapped". Tapped is a restaurant/bar with craft brews only from the Pacific Northwest and arguably some of the best hamburgers you will ever have. Melissa at the time was working for Washington State University, and on that particular Saturday night was working a football game and was going to meet me later for supper after. While I was waiting for Melissa I ended up getting to the bar about a half an hour early and while I would like to say I was a "Rico Suave" or a "Joe Cool fella" I was pretty nervous and ended up going inside and talking to the bartender at least 30 minutes before she was to be there. During that time I was hoping and praying that this wasn't about to be some disaster catfish horror story, as we had a great conversation previously, and let's be honest she was quite gorgeous in her pictures. But thank the good Lord it was her, and she came in wearing a red dress shirt, blue jeans, and some brown fringe boots (some things you'll just never forget). The rest of that date couldn't have gone better. Before you knew it, we were spending what seemed like nearly every day together whether it be going out for meals, or taking the dogs for hikes in the mountains.

Fast forward to December 6th, 2019 Melissa and I were out in Las Vegas to see the National Finals Rodeo (which was Melissa's birthday gift from earlier that year). While the rodeo, that Saturday night, was meant to be the highlight of the trip, little did she know that a few months earlier I had bought an engagement ring and brought it across the country to Las Vegas to propose. Even a few months prior to that I had spoken with Melissa's dad, Glenn, and asked for her hand in marriage, which he of course approved, however not before saying "You never know she might tell you no." For those of you who don't know Glenn I was later told by Melissa that is something she certainly would expect her Dad to say. However with her Dad's approval I moved forward with the idea of somehow, someway proposing in Las Vegas. It was not until we got there and I began looking at some of the advertised events going on in Vegas that I decided how I was to propose. The day before the rodeo a bus limousine took us from our hotel to the Las Vegas airport where we were given a helicopter ride over Las Vegas at night. Once we landed we were taking pictures outside of the helicopter and that is when I asked for Melissa's hand in marriage. Fortunately, she didn't turn me down like her Dad said she might, but rather it was one of the most memorable moments of both of our lives. We then had champagne to celebrate, and went and saw her Mom who was also in Las Vegas for the rodeo. All of this has led us up to where we are today and I can say that we both are so happy about how this life has turned out. We couldn't be any more blessed to have such great family and friends supporting us along this journey. Thank you all so much, Rob