We're getting married!

How did we decide on Moab, Utah for a wedding? We have never been there and we wanted to go there-as easy as that. We are very simple people.

(As told by Marisa) On May 25, 2017 just before 9am I was leaving the gym headed to work and a firefighter who was just getting off shift and getting to the gym held the door open for me (a firefighter & a gentleman?-Woah) 49 days later on July 13, 2017 we went on our first "meeting" at Starbucks at 7pm and ordered one drink and sat and talked until we were kicked out by the workers because they were closing down. Marisa's drink of choice: Iced Coffee with almond milk and SF vanilla syrup Mike's drink of choice: Strawberry Açaí Starbucks Refresher-I have never seen him drink this ever after this date -he must have been trying to impress me with his sophisticated palette ;) Instead of playing it cool, I text Michael that night to let him know that I probably could have talked to him for another 5 hours and that I wanted to see him again. We set up another date a few days later and went to a baseball game where I sat to his right and watched him talk way more than I watched the field (and I love live sporting events). Our third date Michael invited me over for steak & chicken kabobs and we prepped dinner together and watched fireworks from the balcony of his apartment. From this day forward we have never had a typical schedule and we have effortlessly embraced the nontraditional life that comes along with the schedule of a Firefighter and long work days of a Rehabilitation Therapist. To some it seems wild to think we go two or three days without seeing each other or that we have yet to spend Christmas Day together after being in a relationship for 5 years. Growing up in different states with family in NY & OH we do have to make sacrifices. This is something we each know is rare for two people to be completely understanding that its not just about how much time you spend together but making the most of the time you get to spend together <3

As soon as we moved into our home in March of 2019 we knew that we were missing something that we both had wanted in our lives for years! We started the search for the perfect companion and that is when we found Fonzi! He was 11 wks old and just a 10 lb baby! Michael had to go meet Fonzi by himself while I (Marisa) was at work. Knowing what time he was meeting him (1pm) I text him shortly after to see how it went and eagerly asked what he thought! Shortly after I hit send I received a photo of little Fonzi riding shotgun in the Jeep on the way to his new home. He's the greatest addition to us and he goes everywhere we can take him!

👫 On our trip to Colorado for a friend's wedding we wanted to make sure we fit a 14er ⛰ hike into our schedule and in typical fashion, Mike trusted me that doing multiple was a better idea….so we summited four 14ers in 6 days and slept in our rental car at the trailheads two of those days so we could start before 5am 😅 ⛰Mount Elbert: 14,433’ 🏔Grays Peak: 14,270’ 🏔Torreys Peak: 14,267’ 🏔Mount Bietstadt: 14,060’ The best views were at the summit of Torreys Peak 😍 where Michael Grove asked me to marry him 💍 and I of course said yes 👰🏻‍♀️🤵🏼 The adventures have been abundant and yet they’ve just begun-time to climb a lot more mountains together We celebrated with pizza of course!! 😍

We are beyond excited to start this next chapter of our lives. Not just to call each other husband and wife but for the opportunities that come along with the support and encouragement from having your best friend as your life partner. I know that anything is possible and anything that I desire to do Michael will be supportive of me as he has always been. We are so thrilled to begin our forever together by embarking on the adventure of a lifetime! We will be in Utah doing everything that we love starting off by celebrating our marriage with some of the most supportive people in our lives and we couldn't be happier that we have people in our lives that love us like this. Now-as you already know, we don't do much in a traditional sense *cue the list of things that make our relationship one that is quiet unique* so we WILL be traveling to and from Utah in a truck and living out of it during that time. Why not test the marriage right off the bat eh? We will be camping out of the bed of the truck and will be finding public lands in Utah that we can stay on for free (Marisa's favorite price) and truly embracing the nature that surrounds us. For those wondering-yes, Baby Fonzi will be along for all of these adventures! It will be his first truck camping experience as well! Are we experts at this? No-BUT we plan to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. Relationships are never puppies and rainbows everyday (though if it were up to me I would have puppies everyday for sure!) because you can't predict what the future will present you with. But if you are prepared and have a supportive partner then the problems you face together don't seem as daunting as they may if you each faced them alone. With that being said-many of the items on our registry are related to our preparedness for our upcoming adventures! (Incase you are wondering what type of couple is looking for a 'tactical survival kit' to embark on their marriage together 😅). We are SO grateful for anyone who is able to physically be with us to celebrate the start of our marriage and those who wish they could and are there in spirit instead <3