A shared passion for the natural world and Christian ministry brought us together. At the end of an epic summer of relentless hiking and backpacking, bagging peaks and adding hundreds of miles to our boots, we attended a retreat at the Firs at Mt. Baker with our Bethany Wilderness Ministry leaders. Individually, we both joined the BWM in 2022 to serve our church and grow in discipleship by leading treks designed to facilitate encounters with Christ in Creation. We both felt a strong pull to engage with and seek God through this beloved ministry. To celebrate the end of the hiking season, our ministry retreated to Mt Baker to reflect, celebrate, and worship together. It was there in the high alpine chalet that we had our first dance, an impromptu dance party in socks under the glow of string lights, followed by star gazing while lying flat on our backs in the middle of road with friends and a friendly lodge cat. Following the retreat, we decided to co-host a dinner party for our mutual friends on October 2nd. After church, we went to the Ballard Farmers' Market, bought a humongous squash and zucchini, and other fresh ingredients for the dinner. As we prepared the meal, we laughed and danced around the kitchen, thoroughly enjoying our shared love of cooking good, wholesome food. Katie prepared her signature butternut squash, carrot, ginger soup while Samuel chopped ingredients and baked zucchini bread glazed with an apple cider reduction. We had great chemistry in the kitchen and our teamwork was effortless and natural. Following the evening's dinner, Samuel walked Katie to her car and stole the first kiss. When she returned home, she found a secret message written on the aluminum foil that wrapped her sliced zucchini bread leftovers: "Will you date me?" Our first official date was the very next day.

With summer in full swing, Samuel had obtained permits for a group of nine to camp three days and two nights at Cape Alava, a ocean-side campground at the westernmost point of the continental US. With seven of our friends and full backpacks, we took the boardwalk trail through the old growth forest toward the Pacific coast of the Olympic Peninsula. As we neared the coast, a heavy layer of marine fog greeted us. We made camp in the treeline along the beach and cooked dinner to the distant sound of barking sea lions emanating from the gray abyss. That evening our group of friends wandered along the beach, skipping rocks and marveling at the simple beauty of the beach, until we came to Tskawahyah Island. It slowly emerged from the dense fog, a dark towering island topped with tall pine trees. We began to walk along the sand bar leading to the island, before the rising tide forced us to turn back. The next morning, July 16th, after breakfast, we casually strolled up the beach back toward the mysterious island. Samuel's friends, Cap and Drew, had left camp early and, unbeknownst to Katie, carried with them a camp chair bag full of 15,000 rose petals. They arranged the rose petals in a heart shape on the sand bar closest to Tskawahyah Island. As Katie and Samuel approached, she thought that a fisherman's net had washed ashore. Once we were standing at the heart of rose petals, Samuel took a knee and popped the big question. She said yes!! Our friends were there to celebrate the moment, take pictures, and gawk at the ring. It was a joyous occasion. Afterwards, we continued along the beach, found a rope swing, ran into the ocean to play with the waves, and did yoga on the soft sandy beach.