The year was 2007...
I can’t remember if it was the Delta Terrace lounge or the Rose Bowl golf course where I saw that Justin Bieber hair for the first time, but I do know that he liked all the right sports teams so we quickly became friends. Our friendship was easy and sweet and best of all, he didn't seemed bothered by the 6’6” Kobe Bryant Fat Head plastered on my dorm room wall. We shared so many great college memories, from tailgates to dorm room beer pong matches, from screaming at Matt Barkley and OJ Mayo from the sidelines, to drinking $2 pints of Bud Light at Maloneys. It was a great time in our lives and where our friendship began. (It is also worth notating that he got me a signed Russell Westbrook photo for my 22nd birthday so I really should have figured this out a long time ago!)
We remained friends after college, meeting up at tailgates and leaving comments about how much we hated the Boston Celtics on eachothers' Facebook pages. It wasn’t until we were both single (mainly my fault) that we would meet up to watch Laker playoff games and reminisce about the glory days of UCLA and the Horseshoe! Like true millennials, we spent well over a year in the “we’re just friends” zone. It wasn’t until one of us (the non-bearded one) gave the most non-threatening ultimatum of all time. And just like Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, we realized that being “Just Friends” was no longer going to cut it.
CAMPVIBES
Our love for the outdoors IS what really helped our relationship groW...
If you really want to get to know someone, tent camping in a surprise snow storm (16" in 12 hours in Bishop Creek Canyon in late May) or falling into quick sand and needing to be pulled out, while hunting German Brown Trout in the Owens River, is a great place to start. We learned a lot about one another on our many trips to Utah, our long hikes in preparation for Mount Whitney and our trips out to Joshua Tree in the springtime. It’s safe to say we fell in love under the stars, in the small confines of that orange Poler tent. And one of the places which truly shaped our relationship was Mammoth Lakes and surrounding Eastern Sierra range.
Mammoth has always been a special place to both of us. As kids we grew up camping and fishing here with our parents and our grandparents, memories that are absolutely irreplaceable to us. Mammoth has also been a special place to us as a couple as we have spent countless weekends skiing, snowboarding, camping, hiking, backpacking, and fishing together. Last August, we got up early to hike to Little Lakes Valley out of Rock Creek Canyon (just south of Tom's Place). I should have known that something was up when all that Kyle packed was beer and a couple of crushed pastries from Schat's. We hiked to our favorite section of the trail and Kyle set his camera up on a timer to get a photo of the two of us (pretty normal stuff) on a bridge looking down into the valley. However it wasn’t set-up on a timer, the camera was actually recording a video…FAKE OUT. After our 'make-believe' photo snapped, Kyle got down on one knee and said something super sweet (I say “super sweet” because I don’t remember exactly as I think I blacked out). He proposed in our favorite place, about 30 minutes up the canyon from where my Dad asked my Mom to marry him 36 years ago.
THE EASTERN SIERRA
When deciding where to plan our wedding it was a no brainer that it had to be in the Eastern Sierras. We cannot wait to share some of our favorite places with our favorite people in the world — our family and friends. We want to thank everyone for all the love and support they have shown us thus far and we hope you will be able to join us for what we promise to be a fun-filled adventure.
Now it's time to pack your bags and your hiking boots for a weekend filled with laughs, craft beer, mountain air and love (and maybe some fishing)! We can’t wait to see you!
