Katie and Tory got married at the Old Thompson Barn in Carbondale, Colorado.  The barn sits on the River Valley Ranch Golf Course, with mountain views and a stream running right outside.  Plus, we could not have asked for a more beautiful day for a wedding.  It was warm, and the sky was totally clear all day and into the evening, which was lucky because September can get a little chilly in the mountains!

Enjoy!

I asked Katie to tell me a little bit about Tory, and here’s what she had to say:

“I first talked to Tory when we were waiting for our adviser to show up for a meeting at the very beginning of first year of medical school. I thought he was pretty cute!”

“We were in the same group of friends when school started out. I liked Tory, but I was always a little too shy to hang out with him one on one. The first time we hung out just the two of us, we got ice cream and were both so awkward! I laughed every time I walked past the table where we sat after that…it seems silly, knowing him the way I do now, that we ever felt so nervous around each other.”

“We recently went to Tuscany on a dream vacation, and the vineyards there were so beautiful. I can’t really describe the feeling of sitting at a table on the patio, just the two of us, having some of the best food and wine I’ve ever had, looking at some of the prettiest scenery I’ve ever seen. It was made even better because we were celebrating finally being done with medical school…and a little bit celebrating surviving the drive in our tiny manual rental car up into the mountains to get to the vineyard.”

“Tory gives everything he does 100%. He works so hard to do a good job. I’m constantly impressed by his ability to keep going and expect perfection from himself. And it’s pretty cute when he gets mad because he didn’t do an exactly perfect job 🙂 He motivates me to do my best and expect the best from people around me.”

“I had been hoping for a while that he would propose, but I was starting to wonder if it would ever happen! We were at my family’s house over Christmas, but when he didn’t propose on Christmas Eve I figured it would just happen another time. On Christmas morning, we were sitting with my family and had opened all the presents out on the porch by the Christmas tree, the same way my family had done throughout my whole childhood. Then Tory found ‘one more present’ behind the tree, and I started to get suspicious when all my family members started to slowly raise up their phones and iPads! I opened my last present to find my engagement ring, and I was speechless. He proposed to me while I was in my sweatpants and light-up Santa sweater, and it was amazing.”

“We’ve done a lot of really great things together, but honestly some of my favorite memories with Tory are the little ones. Like our uncoordinated attempts at goodbye kisses at 4 am when Tory headed off to his rotation while we lived in that weird little casita in San Antonio, or laying on the couch watching reruns of the Office because we were too tired to do anything else after our first days of intern year, or squeezing apples for cider that one fall weekend at my parents’ house in Wisconsin.”

“One time when we were studying, he snuck into my study room and brought me barbecue for lunch. It probably doesn’t sound like much, but it was so sweet and in that moment I felt so loved that he thought about me and what might make me feel good, even though we were equally stressed and busy that day.”

“He has this little smirk that he does when he knows he’s doing something that will get him in trouble, but thinks it’s really hilarious. I love it because I know he’s in a playful mood, and he’s so funny when he’s totally being himself and doing whatever goofy thing makes him happy.”

“He makes dinner for us both almost every night, even when he’s tired or had a long day. It makes me feel really taken care of, because I know he’d probably rather just blob on the couch but he takes the time to make sure we both have something good to eat at the end of the day.”

“I really respect how much he enjoys being active. Maybe it’s his Colorado upbringing, but he’s always looking for some way to get outside and get moving! He taught me how to climb, which is really fun, and he is always the one on our hikes who keeps moving even when one of us (me) is basically having a heart attack halfway up the trail. He likes running uphill…I can’t say I share that enthusiasm, but I respect him for it.”

“I love that he’s always interested in exploring new things, especially new food. He likes to go new places and try new flavors, or just experiment with new things at home! It definitely helps me to get outside my comfort zone and try new things as well.”

“Maybe this is silly, but one day we were practicing interviewing patients together to get ready for a test. I pretended to be the patient for a scenario, and got to see what his “doctor personality” looked like. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I remember being pretty blown away. He seemed confident and kind and really smart all at the same time. We don’t actually see each other in our work roles very much, and that little insight was really special and impressive.”

Katie says she’s the most excited to marry Tory, “Because I love him! I really believe he’s my one true person.”

Katie says she’s the luck one in this relationship because, “He’s everything I wanted in a husband and more. I’m so happy to have found someone that I love who also just happens to be my best friend. I don’t always have the easiest time opening up to people, and I’m so happy that I found someone who loves me exactly for who I am.”

I asked Tory to tell me a little bit about Katie, and here’s what he had to say:

“The first time I saw her was during our medical school orientation. We were both getting coffee and then somehow we just both exchanged numbers.”

“Our first time hanging out together, we went into downtown Kansas City for ice cream. I remember the conversation being so easy. I feel like we got to know each other pretty quickly.”

“Our first date involved me using my chef skills to sway her into liking me:) We went to the farmers market and found some rib-eye steaks to cook.”

“My favorite dates are the ones where we can make dinner at home, spending relaxing time together and drinking wine while talking about future adventures.”

“Her most beautiful attribute is her caring and selfless personality.”

“My favorite memories together include the great trips that we have taken. Wandering through the vineyards in Napa and exploring Paris and Florence are some of the best.”

“Katie always surprises me with nice things when I’m stressed. One time she sent me a huge box of goodies when I was at Air Force Officer training.”

“One of my favorite quirks is her way of eating corn-dogs. She removes the corn and eats the dog and corn separately.”

“The nicest thing Katie has done for me is her willingness to be my companion in all of our crazy life decisions.”

“Katie is very driven and works hard to do the best job she can.”

“Katie truly cares about people and wants them to be happy.”

“I knew Katie was the one when we could spend hours on end studying together and still wanted to hang out at the end of the day.”

“I feel like we have only just started our adventure. We have so much more life to experience together.”

“I’m lucky to be in this relationship because Katie takes such good care of me and listens to me even when we’re both busy and stressed.”