This would have been a great trip to have had my amazing camera, however, I also couldn’t imagine skiing down a mountain with that thing strapped to my neck….. My thumbnail image I found by Jack Brauer showing Crested Butte at night is spectacular though..Anyway! Kirk and I wanted to go somewhere we had never been before. We hadn’t really gone anywhere together (like a real vacation alone), so a fun trip was in order! We checked out Groupon (they have awesome deals PS) and found a ski resort in Crested Butte, Colorado. For those of you who haven’t been- you need to go. It is called ” one of the last great ski towns” for a reason. Here is a link to check out all the fun facts on Crested Butte! Including, it being named Best Ski Town by USA Today in 2016. It was a stay at the Elevation Resort for several days, including airfare, and had a ski in ski out valet area in the hotel… By the way, I had no idea what that even meant at the time because prior to this trip I had never been skiing in my life let alone ever seen major snow! I was a little nervous, but thought, “what the heck-let’s do it!”

When we flew in and got settled we ran and got our ski lift tickets and explored the resort. It is an amazing place. It has a village type feel on the grounds with all the restaurants, ski shops, and bars. Surrounding the resort is the town of Crested Butte which we explored on our trip and had amazing pizza and beer one night. It is also know as one of the most haunted ski towns (I love paranoramal stuff). We had a mobile ski rental company called, Black Tie Ski Rental come to our room and fit us appropriately for our ski gear. I was starting to get super nervous about skiing. The mountain was huge…. Why did I tell Kirk yes to this trip?! All I could think about was what bone I was going to break the next day.

Day one of skiing was not easy to say the least. Kirk took me to the bunny slopes to get me used to it…didn’t happen. I’ve been pretty athletic in my life, but nothing like going through the feeling of having no control of how quickly you fly over ice while your feet are strapped skis. That was the hardest thing I had to mentally get over. I was beat up and exhausted by the end of it. The next day I was honestly hoping to have a few beers and escape having to hit the slopes again…Kirk did not allow this to happen. So, I got over it and geared up for another try. This time Kirk had us take a lift to a different part of the mountain. He said there were some easy ones we could try. I have no idea how, but perhaps the powers of God helped me that afternoon. I didn’t fall a single time and I actually started enjoying myself! We were surfing powder for hours and when we finally went in for the day Kirk nonchalantly mentioned to me that we had been skiing Blues all day. WTF. Well, at least I didn’t fall. LOL.

That night we got ready to go to dinner. It was an intimate restaurant on top of the mountain, so I was pretty excited we were getting to go! It’s called Uley’s Cabin (if you plan on visiting). They have an Ice Bar up there at 10,118ft high. Make sure you make your reservations the second you get into town because they only take a certain amount of people up there per night. You will probably hear people talking about this place throughout your stay (it was amazing). We piled into a SnowCat (the only way you can get there) and it pulled us up the mountain. The sunset at that altitude was incredible.. Kirk seemed more quiet than usual, but I suspected he was probably just as tired as I was at this point! When we got there he wanted to hang back because he noticed a resort photographer had posted up to take pictures with the sunset on the mountains. He said, “let’s go get our picture taken.” All I could think was, “do we really have to right now? It’s freaking freezing outside!” But, I went along with it. As soon as we got into position he dropped to one knee and I lost it.

To be honest with you.. I was so shocked and excited that I couldn’t hardly even recognize the words coming out of his mouth. I couldn’t even cry. I just stood there with my hands over my face while he said,

” Britny,

You are my best friend. We’ve been through so much together from the world’s most awkward first kiss to bike night at Buffalo Freds, motorcycle wrecks, and ski lessons, and I love you more today than you could ever imagine. I want a lifetime to love you more.. Will you marry me?” (Thankfully he had written this down on paper and memorized it, so I could have that note forever)

Then, I started crying! The resort chick was taking pictures the whole time (Kirk had set that whole thing up), and apparently everyone on the SnowCat knew what was going down too! When we got inside there was champagne, a charcuterie tray, and an applause before dinner. It was the best night of my life!

Kirk designed this custom ring.  It’s a solitare round cut diamond on a rose gold band. I told you I’m obsessed with rose gold! I wanted the main stone to be the center of attention so that my wedding bands could add the sparkle later. He put so much research into what makes for a perfect stone.. I’m super proud of him LOL. He looked up color, cut, and quality and he did a great job!

Crested Butte is a very special place for us and I can’t wait to go back!

For more info on Crested Butte and what to do there message me and I’ll put together a guide for you! I hope you enjoyed our little story!

Love, B