Our Story
Ariana and Andrew's story began in 2016 when they met at the Taos Clay Studio in new Mexico. Ariana was a Resident Artist, and Andrew was a Carson Hot Shot (wildland firefighter) and studio member living in a shack out back. They became friends, and even went on a few dates before life steered them their separate ways.
As fate would have it, in 2022 Andrew found himself fighting wildfires in central Texas. He kept thinking about Ariana, and so he decided to shoot her a text and see if she was able to meet up.
"Hey! How close is Amarillo to Austin?" he asked. "Oof, about 6 hours or so," Ariana replied.
But he didn't stop there. The next weekend he said, "how about Dallas?" Ariana replied, "still far away...this is a BIG state". Finally, Andrew struck gold when he said,
"How about Waco?"
"I can meet you in Waco. Does this evening work?", she said.
And so, on July 8th, 2022 Ariana and Andrew re-kindled their romance in Waco, Texas. And this time, it was the right time. The entire way home Ariana thought to herself "What took us so long?!"
Ariana and Andrew dated long-distance (Denver/Austin) for about a year. They sent letters/post cards back and forth and would visit each other every 1-2 months. During their visits they enjoyed many fun outings including snowy Colorado hikes, water coloring at Laguna Gloria in Austin, and even romancing in Mexico City. Things were going so well that in August 2023, Andrew decided to take a leap of faith and move down to Austin to give everyday life with Ariana a try.
And it worked. It turned out, everyday life was even better than long-distance life. So, on their second anniversary (July 8th, 2024), Andrew got down on one knee in the kitchen and asked Ariana if she would marry him. And she said yes :)
