How We Met
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How we met
We don’t have a particularly romantic love story of how we met. What I will tell you, is that I met my future husband five years ago, on his first day of work. I was hosting the new hire training at our company that day, and he showed up in a ratty green fleece jacket, and my first thought of him was: how could someone show up late for work on their first day, wearing THAT?! Needless to say, the rest is history. He won me over with his kindness, his genuine charm, his adventurous spirit and his constant ability to make me laugh. Our attraction was undeniable, our connection was palpable. It took us a good few years before we actually got together as we were both in crucially different times in our lives, but being patient proved to be a virtue. Once we were finally together, we truly appreciated the love we had, and we knew we’d never be apart.
Reuben and I love to hike and be outdoors. We live on the west coast of British Columbia in Canada, and we spend every free moment exploring the mountains and forests of our backyard. It’s our way of de-stressing from our crazy jobs, and spending uninterrupted time together. In the woods we are free of people and technology and the hustle and bustle of daily life.
It gives us a chance to recharge, and we are so lucky to live in this incredible corner of the world. Together we have built a community called VancityWild which represents us as a couple, and we have documented our travels and adventures both close to home and beyond. VancityWild had since grown into both an Instagram feed, @vancitywild, and a website, in hopes of inspiring like-minded individuals to get outside and explore. We have to say, it has only brought us closer.
How Reuben asked
The holidays and New Year’s 2016 were upon us. Reuben is an extrovert; he is always energetic and a true lover of life. He loves to be around people and his closest friends, but he also knows that I am very much an introvert. Somehow, we bring out the best in each other. For New Year’s Eve, Reuben had come up with the idea to do a night hike on one of our snowy local mountains. I was thrilled, it was a perfect idea; just the two of us, doing something we had been wanting to do for some time. We bundled up with layers of sweaters and winter parkas, (not your typical New Year’s Eve attire!) and loaded up with some New Year’s Eve gear: sparklers, glow sticks, and some hot cocoa to toast with. Unbeknownst to me, Reuben had other plans in mind!
The mountain was all lit up for the ski season, and it was the most incredible hike, even before what was about to happen. We cracked our glow sticks and the snow literally sparkled like millions of diamonds. We hiked to a lookout to watch the stars and wait for the countdown. We are both photographers, so we set up our tripod to take some photos looking over the mountains and the surrounding islands – the view was completely surreal at night. Reuben nonchalantly suggested we take photos of sparkler skywriting, where you use a sparkler to “write” or draw letters backwards in the air, and take a long exposure photo to reveal the word. When the shot finishes, with the word seared into the darkness with shimmering sparkler light, the result is magic. We took turns writing things in the sky, which takes a lot of practice, as you have to write backwards! We wrote our names, B + R, 2016, drew hearts, and sketched as many fun designs in the sky as we could think of.
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It was Reuben’s turn, and I settled myself behind the camera to take the shot. As he started writing, I wasn’t paying much attention, as midnight was approaching. When the camera display finally lit up, the words “MARRY ME?” were etched into the sky with fire, and my heart stopped.
By that time, Reuben was kneeling by my side holding the most beautiful ring I had ever seen, promising to love me forever. I was so stunned, I started to cry and hugged and kissed him, and started blubbering on about who knows what…and I completely forgot to say yes. (Don’t worry, I said yes when he reminded me!) Reuben had timed it so that moments later, the clock struck midnight, and we watched, dazed, as fireworks shot off all over the city and the surrounding islands, a private celebration just for us.
That moment will be forever ours, and I feel so lucky that I have the photo to remember it by…not that I could ever forget.
We are adventure buddies for life