Story
It was Thanksgiving weekend of 2015 when her friend Arlin texted Chelsea: "Killington tomorrow? I'm skiing with my buddy Matt." Thinking nothing of it, Chelsea said "Sure, I'll be there." Chelsea was living in Boston and Matt in Seattle, but both were in New Hampshire for the holiday.
When she arrived at the mountain, Chelsea was greeted by the most absurd human she had ever met. Matt was dressed in a tall-tee and a completely unzipped oversized coat on the ski slopes, which Chelsea found alarming yet oddly endearing. Chelsea dazzled him with her control on the icy slopes and by the end of the day Matt was swooning and eager to spend more time with her.
Christmas break brought another opportunity to ski together, and this time they decided to carpool. Legend has it that on the ride home, Chelsea was subliminally hypnotized into a love stupor when Matt played the album "Parachutes" by Coldplay cover to cover in the background. As the winter continued, Chelsea found convenient and inconvenient excuses to make her way across the country to Seattle to visit Matt. Finally in the fall, she took the plunge and moved across the country to start anew in Seattle.
Since that move, Matt and Chelsea have been building their life together in the Pacific Northwest. Along the way they took up mountain biking and gardening, skied deep powder (and occasional "liquid pow"), traveled near and far, and bought a home. They survived building out a camper van together, home renovations, one broken bone, and a global pandemic.
A little more than five years after that first ski date, on a ski tour up East Peak, opposite Crystal Mountain, WA, Matt asked Chelsea to marry him, with his best friend Phil standing by to capture the moment. Even though (for some reason) she thought it was a joke at first, she eventually came to her senses and said yes.