...Ours took about fifteen years, a mission in Taiwan, an unanswered Facebook birthday message, a company Christmas party, and a very fateful camping trip in Moab.

Megan and I first met very briefly on our missions in Taiwan. We didn’t really get to know each other, just crossed paths once (and in Megan fashion, we have a photo to document it). I don’t remember it, but Facebook remembers that I wished her a happy birthday back in 2011, so I guess I was thinking about her even then. Since she never replied, I can only assume she never saw it!

In 2017, I ran into Meg again when she showed up at my company Christmas party with a coworker that she was dating. I instantly recognized her from the mission, and we chatted for a few minutes on the train.

Fast forward to 2023. I was swiping on one of the dating apps when I saw Meg in a group photo on someone’s profile. I looked her up on Facebook and was glad to see that she was single. She looked so cute and fun, with lots of pictures in nature and with her family. I was very intrigued, but I figured she probably got plenty of random DMs, and I didn’t want to be that guy.

Then that fall, my friend and coworker Austin invited me on a group camping trip to Moab. There were about 60 people going, and I didn’t know anyone except him. I figured it’d be a good chance to meet some new people, but I wasn’t expecting much.

We got in late and went straight to bed. The next morning, I went to get breakfast — and there she was. Making pancakes.

My stomach dropped. I had been thinking about her, and suddenly, there she was, right in front of me, in the middle of the desert.

I was wearing this ridiculous tie-dye beanie and didn’t really feel ready to talk to her, but I had to shoot my shot. I went up, tapped her on the shoulder, and reminded her that we’d been on the mission together. She gave me this huge smile and started joking around — instantly charming, easy to talk to, full of life. I was hooked.

I made sure to join her canyoneering group that day so I could keep the conversation going. I tried to play it cool, but I was freaking out inside. Austin kept catching me grinning like an idiot and gave me the classic wingman smirk. He knew I was excited — we’d talked a lot about dating, and he was stoked to finally see me light up around someone.

Megan and I walked and talked for most of the hike, then went to lunch with a small group. That evening back at camp, I found her again, and we kept talking. Eventually, I invited her down by the river to watch the sun set and we wandered off from the group. We spent that night looking at the stars and walking down a long desert road — one of those nights that just feels like magic.

The next morning, I told Austin that I had met my future wife.

I got her number before she left and asked her out the next day. We had our first kiss the following weekend around a fire up American Fork Canyon, and things really took off from there. Megan tried to get rid of me a couple of times but I wasn’t going anywhere.

I knew there was something different about her, something rare and magnetic. She was charming and witty and thoughtful and authentic. I felt like I had been waiting a long time to meet someone like her, and when I finally did, I had this overwhelming sense that I couldn’t let it slip by. There’s a quote by Winston Churchill that I thought about a lot in those first few months:

“To each there comes in their lifetime a moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing.”

That’s how it felt with Meg — even though I had done the tapping, I felt like I had a chance that doesn’t come around very often, and I didn’t want to mess it up. I knew she was someone worth showing up for, worth pursuing with everything I had.

The beginning of our relationship was incredible. It felt like we’d both finally found something real. We did a lot of hiking, spent a lot of time with each other’s families, and started to build something together. But like any relationship, it wasn’t all smooth. We hit a rocky patch for a few months. There were some real ups and downs. But we kept showing up for each other. We kept trying. We kept choosing each other.

At the start of this year, we decided it was time to really commit. I brought Megan back to American Fork Canyon, where we’d had our first kiss and several other dates, and asked her to marry me.

We were alone in the snowy woods, but if you know Meg you know that she was going to document the moment. You haven’t lived till you’ve had a one hour photoshoot in the snow, Meg frantically running back and forth for the ten-second timer with the camera perched precariously on a small branch. I have to give it to her: the pictures look great!

For our wedding, we wanted something small and intimate, so we returned to the place where it all came together — Moab. We brought our families, kept it simple, and had a beautiful little ceremony in the desert.

As I’m writing this, it’s been a month since we said “I do” (or in Meg’s case, “Hell yes I do!”). Life as newlyweds has been everything we hoped for, full of laughter and comfort and that deep, steady feeling of being in the right place with the right person. We’re settling into this new chapter together with gratitude and excitement, still amazed that somehow, after all those years and chance encounters, we found our way to each other. If the first month is any indication, it’s going to be a beautiful life together.