our story

Believe it or not, we first met almost 17 years go as freshmen at Whitworth College. We didn't know each other very well at first, but as the years progressed we fell into the same circle of friends and got to know one another a little better. After graduation, we went our separate ways but ran into each other every few years - at friends' weddings or when Tiff traveled to Seattle.

Then two years ago, the class of '94 was invited to the Whitworth ten-year reunion. A week beforehand Tiff came out to Seattle from Colorado to visit a mutual friend, and on a whim called Bill to see if he'd like to meet them for drinks. We met up a couple times before the reunion, and were both surprised and pleased to find that we had grown to have much in common. The years apart had somehow brought us closer together.

We both traveled separately to the reunion a day early so we could spend time with a mutual friend in town from Arizona. As it turned out, the friend never showed and the two of us ended up walking to an old college hang-out together. We talked, laughed and recounted a decade of memories late into the night. The rest of the weekend was filled with reunion activities, homecoming football, and good friends. During this time, we felt something growing between us.

After the reunion we talked almost every day on the phone. Five weeks later Bill flew to Durango, Colorado to visit Tiff. Our "first date" was at Tiff's family's beautiful hunting lodge, where Bill got a quick introduction into the art of butchering game...the entire weekend he was elbow deep in elk and deer meat. Hard to imagine that being a romantic weekend, but it was, and we loved spending time together.

After six months, many freshly-earned frequent flyer miles, and some very expensive phone bills, Tiff moved to Seattle. She soon got a job as a consultant for Microsoft, and we finally got to enjoy life in the same state! We both played in a pool league that spring, traveled a great deal in the summer and put up our first Christmas tree (a momentous event!) that winter. The following April, we finally went back to the ranch in Colorado for a long-awaited visit.

On April 28th, after a fun day working and playing at the lodge, we enjoyed a large, ranch-style dinner with Tiff's family. After cleaning the mountain of dishes, which -- according to Bill -- took forever, he asked Tiff to go out on the deck with him. We stepped out to a brilliant spring evening, and the moon had just started to peak over the canyon rim. At that moment Bill got down on his knee and pulled out a small white box - as he opened it, a tiny light came on to reveal a beautiful ring Bill had designed - and Bill asked Tiff to marry him. After she caught her breath, Tiff shouted "Yes!" That night we stayed up all night in front of the fire talking about our future.

And now, in the months, weeks and days before our special day, we're excited to share this moment and we thank you for being a part of our blessed lives. We hope you enjoy every moment and know we're so grateful to have each and every one of you in our lives.

God bless, Bill and Tiff