Our long story.

For better or worse, we live in a disconnected digital age. We thought it’d be fun to post a short journey of our decade together to fill any gaps!

In May of 2014, Colin graduated from Iowa State, (after changing majors 4 times) with a bachelors in Agronomy.

Kirsten graduated from Central College in Pella, double majoring in Biochemistry and Biology while also dancing with the Central College Dance Team.

Colin left to work on an urban farm in Montana (this was a nightmare). Kirsten hunted for work around Des Moines.

By the end of 2014 we had both started at Eurofins Scientific, in Des Moines, as lab techs. Woo!

2015

We started dating in March. Although we couldn’t afford to do much, that didn’t stop us from adventuring around Iowa! From cycling the bike trails, camping in county parks or ending our nights at Orlando’s for pizza.

2016

Was a true whirlwind. Kirsten pursued pharmacy school. We took our first serious trip together to Boston and Philadelphia. Kirsten had interviews and we scoped out the area.

She eventually landed on the University of Iowa. We were off with the cat to live in Iowa City! This started our “new normal” for the next 4 years.

Colin eventually found work at IDT in Iowa City, where we met a lot of our friends!

2017

We finally felt settled in Iowa City. Year 2 of pharmacy school for Kirsten. Colin worked 3rd shift which made life interesting. He doesn’t have much memory of this year lol. We filled our limited free time with gardening, bicycle projects, cat photos, and Iowa State games! Go Clones!

By the end of the year Colin had a kickball championship trophy and Kirsten almost opened a bottle of champagne without screaming.

2018

Colin finally got into a 9-5 routine. (9:15 for him). Otherwise it was a year on “the grind” for both of us. Kirsten continued her studies while working at Walgreens and babysitting.

We rode our bikes and squeezed kitties. Colin spent the year teaching himself how to code. Kirsten enjoyed giving Colin a flu shot a little too much.

We ended the year drinking Lone Star on the river walk in San Antonio for Iowa State’s bowl game.

2019

We ate too much BBQ in Kansas City. Kirsten made AMAZING cupcakes. Colin got really into hot sauce. People start asking why we weren’t married yet.

Because Pharmacy School wasn’t enough, Kirsten graduated with a masters degree in public health.

Colin moved up into a hybrid software/science position. Built ‘covfefe’ for RAGBRAI, drank too much beer in San Diego and ate too many waffles in Belgium.

Kirsten got ‘the sads’ and adopted another cat. Louie! Sookie caught a mouse.

Colin almost died at an apple orchard. We took a trip to beautiful Wisconsin. Sat through a 12 hour, stormy CyHawk game.

We finished the year visiting Buddy Holly’s grave, made ceramic mugs and FROZE our tails off at an ISU vs. KU football game.

2020

Ugh.

It was a weird year. Kirsten graduated from Pharmacy School. After all this time, the virtual ceremony was really disappointing, but that was life in 2020.

Instead of jumping into retail, she chose a path into clinical pharmacy. Meaning, two years of residency were coming up! After another round of interviews and some help, we were off to Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Well just outside). As Michigan opened up we got to explore the lakes, played disc golf and Kirsten met 3 new wonderful friends as co-residents.

Colin, after years of self taught projects after work, finally landed a full software developer role within IDT. If you tried to keep track that was technically his 8th different position since 2014 lol. (He doesn’t stop here).

Like everyone else we mostly stayed home. Got into lots of little projects. Had garage beers with Louie. We did lose some family members and we will remember them.

2021

Another year in transition!

Over the Spring we took a cheeky trip to Myrtle Beach and watched the Cubs play Detroit. As Kirsten wrapped up year 1 of residency, she matched with the Reno VA Hospital for year 2. With some more help, we left for Nevada by Summer.

Immediately got hit with fire season. Friends came to visit for Kirsten’s birthday! We went to Hamilton. Started to settle into the West by visiting our first National Park (Great Basin) and a trip to San Francisco.

2022

Was a really fun year!

Over the Spring we went down to Arizona to see family. Kirsten got a crystal crown in Sedona. Colin took the Amtrak back to Iowa.

By Summer Kirsten had finished year 2 of residency and accepted a position as a Clinical Mental Health Pharmacist with the Reno VA Hospital. With some time between positions we left for a longer trip to Sitka, Alaska to see family. Then finished with a few days exploring Seattle. Colin learned he’s extremely scared of heights in the Space Needle.

Colin took a position as a Software Consultant and used some free time to hike a lot. He tried to backpack part of the Tahoe Rim Trail but needed Kirsten to save him on day 1.

Kirsten crochets an entire giant blanket.

We finally car camped in Nevada. Man the mountains are really amazing.

Colin went back to Iowa to start the new position but quickly picked up Covid and had to isolate. Ended up doing some solo camping and finished with a little canoe trip.

Finally we did wrap up the year with another trip back to Iowa to celebrate our friends Jeff and Megan’s wedding!