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High Country romance: Read our love story contest submissions

Compiled by Caramie Schnell
cschnell@vaildaily.com
VAIL CO, Colorado
Special to the DailyMarisa Aguilar and Kevin Selvy, of Crazy Mountain Brewing Company, were recently engaged.
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We asked to hear about your love stories, and you obliged. Over the past few weeks we’ve gotten lots of stories submitted by local residents about everything from that how you knew he/she was “the one” to how you proposed. Look for more submissions in Sunday’s High Life section and be sure and check back Monday when we’ll print the winning stories on the cover of High Life.

The top three winners will receive either a couples massage for two at Allegria Spa in Beaver Creek (complete with Champagne and strawberries), a romantic dinner for two at Saddle Ridge in Beaver Creek or dinner for two at La Tour in Vail.

Yin and yang



Oil and vinegar. Yin and yang. Kermit and Miss Piggy. Two completely separate and opposite entities that blend together to form an pretty amazing whole. Kevin and I could not be more contrasting of a couple if we tried. We are polar opposites who somehow found love through delicate balance and discovery. He loves the outdoors and sleeping on the ground under the stars. I like my stars in restaurant ratings and getting my nature fix from Bear Grylls. He grew up with horses on a dirt road in the country with his Irish family and I am a half-Indonesian, half-Mexican girl from a bustling, diverse city. He lives for spicy and I adore sweet. We even met under contrasting circumstances – I was a craft beer virgin tasting barleywines at Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco where he brewed. This crazy dichotomy of ours has not only led to an extremely enlightened relationship, but has also helped us foster our small business. Coming from opposite ends of the spectrum yields a nice balance and compromise in the middle, whether it be on how we manage our personal finances to what the next beer name at Crazy Mountain Brewery should be. We constantly teach and show each other new things from our different cultures and introduce each other to things previously unexperienced. My first Southwestern-style Christmas dinner with green chili gravy and his first 12-course Asian banquet extravaganza complete with fried duck tongue and raw jellyfish tentacles were some of our most treasured meals ever. Opposites really DO attract, and just like magnets, we are blissfully stuck together.

– Marisa Aguilar and Kevin Selvy, Owners of Crazy Mountain Brewing Company and Avon residents

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Well, I guess I have to tell the story about how I proposed to Kelly. We’d been living in Vail for a short time so I figured I might as well use the surroundings that were available to me. I did some research and heard of this little yurt restaurant that you have to snowshoe a mile up a mountain to get to.

I told Kelly that we were going snowshoeing with friends on a Sunday morning in January. When we arrived to the bottom of the mountain, I fake called the “missing party” and I mentioned to Kelly “I guess they can’t make it.” Kelly is hard to surprise so I had to play it off pretty well. Acting!

We made it to the starting point and picked up our gear. I was worried that the desk clerk was going to say “Congratulations” since when I booked the trip I mentioned it was for an engagement … well, it worked. We started on the hike up and we were enjoying the quiet surroundings of the mountains and enjoying our time together. I could tell that Kelly was starting to wonder when the end was near, but we made it. All the time, Kelly was asking questions about why people didn’t show up? Where are we going? Why are you smiling? etc.

We made it to the yurt, sat down and had a great lunch. I was very nervous but I was trying not to show it. Kelly said I “was very smiley” that day. I checked my snow pants every five minutes just to make sure the ring was still there.

After lunch and a fantastic dessert, I asked the waitress to take a picture of us outside. After the picture, Kelly started walking back to the yurt and I grabbed her hands and asked her for one more picture. I got down on one knee and proposed. I FINALLY SHOCKED KELLY! The waitress didn’t know what to do!

It was a great day and the snowshoe down was all smiles.

We were married on June 19, 2010 in Shelbyville, Illinois and we are expecting our first child on July 5, 2011!

– Kelly and Devin Henderson, Avon residents

Our love story started and continues to revolve around Beaver Creek and Vail. I-made a life change in 2007, leaving Kansas City to become a nurse at Vail hospital, and instantly fell in love with the high country. I went back to Missouri in May,-undecided on-what to do next with my life … but I did decide to attend my brother’s barbecue one week after my return, and met the love of my life, Darrick. Our relationship quickly became serious, but I was becoming restless as a “flat-lander” by 2009. So I took a risk and left Darrick in Missouri and returned to Vail. Apparently, absence makes the heart grow fonder!

Darrick is notorious for being unable to keep secrets. But he redeemed himself on a weekend visit where we ended up on Strawberry Park Lift in Beaver Creek on Feb. 12, 2010. It was there on the lift he proposed, later telling me he wanted to ask me to be his wife where I was most happy, on the mountain. Of course I said yes!

By October, the wedding plans were completed. Only one thing needed to be decided, where to live. My answer was a given. Darrick, however, had never moved from our small hometown. He took a huge chance by leaving his secure job in a this economy. But, unsurprisingly, Darrick has completely fallen in love with Vail Valley, just as I did back in 2007. We got married on Dec. 11, 2010 (12-11-10) and are enjoying every moment of newlywed life here!

– Brooke and Darrick Bishop, Avon residents

I started a company in 2001 which I have been married to ever since. Moving from market to market launching locations left me no time for a dog let alone a relationship. Last November I packed up my car and moved from LA to Denver to help launch the CO market. The first month I was in Denver I attended a Santa Pub Crawl for charity and met Frank, Mr. Santa. We began dating, soon had a puppy, then two. My company was in need of a Director of Finance- ironically enough that was what Frank did for a living. Needless to say he now works for the company. We moved to Edwards where we opened a location and are now getting married in May. This past year has been amazing proof that when it’s right you just know … even when he’s wearing a Santa costume.

–Carrie Rezabek, founder and CEO of Pure Barre and Frank Dorr, Edwards residents


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