We met online through OkCupid six years ago and even before we met in person we were close to falling hard for each other. We talked about ourselves, our kids, and shared music back and forth until we were finally both able to work up the courage to meet in person. That first encounter was at a little mountain coffee shop in Crestline, CA called Higher Grounds. We were both so nervous and shaky we were a little quiet and shy at first. The barista had mistakenly given Ryan the wrong drink which ended up being a bit of an ice breaker and we were able to laugh and relax a little. After some talking and staring at each other in awe, we decided to head to the local forest for a hike. We both had butterflies but became more comfortable as the date went on. Somewhere in the middle of the hike, totally out of character, Colleen decided the time had come, and initiated the first kiss. From that day on, we were together. Over the first couple of years, we had lots of ups and downs, and even broke up a couple times. We both needed to work on ourselves, heal our pasts, and figure out how to communicate with each other in more loving ways, so we committed to doing so together. After we got through those first bumpy years and grew as individuals and as a couple, we were stronger and healthier together than we had ever been before and our love grew and grew. We worked on building our life together while raising our kids, playing with our dogs, and making our house a home. We bowled in a league with some of our dearest friends, traveled to beautiful places, and laughed together constantly. Each anniversary we ended up celebrating in a forest or mountain town, symbolic of that first date. After six years, Ryan took Colleen back to that same Higher Grounds coffee shop in Crestline for a date. We walked through that same forest where we had our first kiss. As we neared the end of the walk, Ryan got down on one knee and proposed, and of course, Colleen said yes.