Breckenridge Fall engagement // Kelsey Booth Photography

From Sam:

The first time I saw Erik was Thursday night of the infamous USD homecoming DDays (U-S-D COYOTES), he was wearing a white cowboy hat with a red hoodie (still till this day I’ve never seen a red hoodie and cowboy hat look that good.) I looked at my friend Jami and jokingly called dibs…At closing time, I was walking Jami back to her apartment, when we started be followed by Erik giving his friend a ride home…. on the handle bars of his bike. (Cause leave it to Erik to bike to the bars) Instead of going straight home, my friend Samuel caught glimpse of me from his house across the street and hollered at me come over for the after party… Why not?! When I walked in there were only about 20 guys sitting in the living room playing, some playing video games (yes, this is college) the only seat open was on a love seat (true story, small couches are called love seats, oh the irony!) next to no other than the White cowboy hat and red sweatshirt hunk (Yes!) we got to talking (about elk hunting – would you expect anything else?!) and before we knew it, it was 4:00 am (Sorry, Dad). Erik offered to give me his sweatshirt and walk me home. At the door I offered to give Erik his sweatshirt back, he said ‘keep it, it’ll give me an excuse to see you again.’ Once I walked in my apartment my roommate inquired on my whereabouts, I told her I just met the love of my life (another true story)….

From Erik:

The first time I saw Sam I had just downloaded a new app that was all the rage, Tinder, and I remember she was the first girl that showed up, I got so excited ready to swipe yes, but because I was new to the app I mistakenly swiped left.. the wrong way! Her profile was gone and I couldn’t get it back. I immediately tried to look her up based on her first name since that’s all Tinder shows but was unsuccessful. A few months later, a Sam (THE Sam) liked my tweet on Twitter about getting ready for pheasant hunting after one crashed into my windshield, I immediately knew it was her (While I was trying to find her she had somehow found me?!) I asked my roommates about her and they said good luck and that she didn’t go out much anymore so you’d be lucky to see her at the bars. To be honest, most of the time I went to the bars I could barely make out the faces of my friends let a lone the girl I was desperately trying to meet (all my friends’ fault I swear). Then Thursday DDay’s night I recall my buddy Sam P., who’s house we were heading to for an after party, was frantically yelling at someone who he knew down the street. Meanwhile, I was doing my civil friend duty of drunk biking a drunk friend to the after party and managed to safely arrive at the destination (How? good question). Once I realized Sam P. was yelling at Sam (THE Sam) I assumed they were prior acquaintances, I went inside the party to the guys getting hyped up on who was going to win on the new Madden. I recall relaxing on the couch when Sam walked in, and lucky for me she decided to sit right next to me while the other 20 guys in the house were hoping it was next to them. We hit it off right away, talked the night away, then I biked her home (I biked, she walked) ha! I had given her my sweatshirt as it was pretty cold out, plus I knew I would be fine due to the amount of whiskey in my veins. I didn’t mess up this time, I got her number before she left. For the next fews days, I would joke with Sam by texting or teasing her when I would see her about returning my sweatshirt just to add to the fun! After the crazy week, I used getting my sweatshirt back as a leeway to ask her out. To decide what we’d do I asked if she wanted to do something adventurous or chill, but when she answered adventurous it was a done deal. We took off to the outside of town and cruised in the Silverado, we watched the sunset, then I surprised her with a bottle of wine and a six pack of Bud, we got to know each other at the lookout over the Missouri River, the same place I would eventually ask her to marry me a few years later!