Wedding Date on Oct 15, 2016

From The Bride: Brad and I met in 2004, when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS). We immediately became close friends as we lived on 1st Vail in the dorms. I hungout with Brad and "the boys" (Jeff, Clayton, Joe, Eric, Justin, Matt, etc.) pretty much every day. I always had a special place in my heart for Brad, but I viewed him more like a brother as he never tried to make any moves on me, always took care of me and made sure I was safe, and was always there when I needed him, no matter what. After I left UCCS in 2006, Brad and I remained close via random texts and phone calls and various trips to see each other every few years. In 2009, Brad came to see me in DC while I was living there, and in 2012, we met up in Boston when we were vising Jeff. I had plans in early 2015 to accompany Brad on his long-distance roadtrip from Pennsylvania to Arizona, where he was starting his new life, but due to my new job, I didn't have the vacation time to take off, so I couldn't make the trip. For months it ate at me that Brad had to make that LONG trip cross-country by himself, and I felt terrible about it. Since I couldn't make the cross-country trek, I decided to go visit him in Arizona in May 2015 for Memorial Day. Day 1 of my 5 day trip there, I knew something was different, and for the better. After picking me up from the airport, Brad and I went hiking in the Petroglyph Trail in the Superstition Mountains. When we got to the top of hike/climb, Brad and I sat down and started talking. I told Brad about some party I was recently at where the male owner of the house made his bed and provided food (not just booze!), and I thought those qualities made the guy "marriage material". Out of nowhere, Brad said, "why don't we get married? I make my bed, I will cook for you, have food at my parties, I clean, etc." While I thought I would think "this is nuts", it actually felt comfortable and right! The rest of my time in Arizona, Brad and I talked about each other, our likes, wants, career goals, family goals, etc., to see if we found any areas of concern where we might not be compatible--we didn't! I left Arizona knowing that my time there was the starting point for a new kind of relationship for me and Bradley. The same day I arrived back in Minnesota, I booked a flight back to Arizona for 4th of July weekend to see Brad, again. From May to July, Brad and I talked every night on the phone, we texted each other all day long, and our relationship grew in ways that I didn't know it could. My trip to Arizona in July solidified everything, and I knew Bradley was the man of my dreams and that this was the start of something incredible. Fast forward to September 23, 2015, during our trip to Europe, while in the whimsical and romantic Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Austria, where the Sound of Music was filmed, Brad and I were walking under a trellis walkway covered in ivy. I got ahead of Brad and was rambling on about something when all of a sudden I heard Brad call from behind me, "Baby!" I turned around. and to my surprise and delight, there was Brad on one knee. I immediately started crying, as this was completely unexpected! Brad was so excited (or nervous-hehe) that he actually forgot to say the words, "Will you marry me?". He told me that he's always loved me and he knew after spending 24 hours a day for 7 days together, that he had no doubt I was the one he wanted to spend his life with. I wasn't sure if he was done talking or not, so I stood there silently because I thought he was going to say more. He then, said, "Is that a yes?", and I replied, "You forgot to actually ask me", and we laughed and smiled. For the record, HE THEN ASKED, AND I SAID YES!!! :) Now about those puppies: The organization is Secondhand Hounds! I basically had puppies to raise awareness for animal rescues and that dogs should be adopted from rescues! Rescues have all breeds and ages of dogs, even pure bred dogs millions of dogs are euthanized ever day just because they don't have homes, and we can stop the massive killing of incident dogs by encouraging adoption #adoptdontshop.