Our Story

The Mission Trip

The clock strikes 6:30am. It’s 30 minutes after the children of Rolling Hills Christian Church were supposed to leave for the 9 hour drive to Tijuana, Mexico. Whispers spread faster than California wildfires throughout the 10 rented vans filled with teenage anxiety.

Daniel Chae was late.

‘But who the hell is Daniel Chae,’ thought Carolyn. She arrived 15 minutes early with a full water bottle and extra snacks.

6:33am. And their religious caravan takes shape for the 550+ mile drive from El Dorado Hills to Tijuana. The Rolling Hills Christian Church Mission Trip has officially begun. Where 80 children will build 8 houses over 6 days for a few families on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico.

Our two heroes will first cross paths that night. Carolyn is sitting with her girlfriends when she sees a boy walk in with a Goku hair style drawing the attention of every girl in the room. Who is that? Why of course, that is Daniel Chae.

Some might call it love at first sight, because at the same moment Daniel sees Carolyn for the first time. He’s clever and wiley, and throughout the week continues to make excuses to see Carolyn. Daniel has the Mission Trip in a tizzy with his sharpie tattoos, but his favorite of the week was a bad ass unicorn tattoo on Carolyn’s forearm.

They exchange numbers with the contact info ‘My Soulmate’ which is still their contact in their phones today.

Growing Up Apart

Daniel and Carolyn begin dating on September 3rd, 2010. Daniel was a senior, so the two enjoyed all the classics hand-in-hand. They went to Homecoming, Sadies, and when the time came for the Senior Prom, Daniel concocted a surprise that would land him in high school infamy.

You see, Daniel was a bit of a celebrity at Oak Ridge High School. There was popular because you were a jock, and popular because you were beloved. Daniel is and will always be the latter.

So when Daniel shared his ‘Promposal’ during lunch period, word spread. Daniel and his merry men (and women) made their way to Carolyn’s English Class, acoustic guitar in tow, where Daniel adapted LOVE by Nat King Cole to ask the love of his life to Prom. She said yes, one of many happy yes’es that would take place over the years to come.

Eventually the pair went their separate ways, bicoastal. Daniel attended RISD, Carolyn attended SDSU. Life happened.

Pandemic Reunion

Flash forward to 2020. A pandemic brought the pair back to their hometowns and a phone exchange lead to ‘not a date.’

‘not a date’

On this non-date, Daniel packed a picnic and rented out an entire movie for the pair. They saw Tenet and to the day, do not understand what the heck that movie was about.

Carolyn and Daniel continued to date via a string of Airbnb houses. Daniel cooked. Carolyn supplied board games. And most importantly, they caught each other up on the last decade of their lives.

The similarities were obvious. They graduated, traveled, worked, became closer to their families. And they wanted to do it together.

Building a Life

They chose Denver. Neither of them had lived there before, which made it feel like theirs from the start — no old routines, no baggage, just the two of them figuring it out together. They found an apartment with mountain views, stocked the kitchen with too many gadgets, and started building a home.

Then came Cleo — a brown tabby with a permanent scowl and zero respect for personal boundaries. She claimed the best spot on the couch within hours and has been the household’s unofficial third roommate and resident troublemaker ever since. She knocks things off counters with impunity and has never once apologized.

Over five years, they built routines, traditions, and a life. Sunday morning farmers markets. Friday night cooking experiments (some more successful than others). Hikes that started early and ended at breweries. They stopped talking about “your place” and “my place” — it was just home.

The Proposal

Daniel planned a hike — nothing unusual, they did it all the time. But this one had a ring in his pocket and a heart rate that had nothing to do with the elevation. Somewhere above the treeline, with the Rockies stretched out in every direction, he got down on one knee.

She said yes. (She also said “are you serious?” about four times first, but yes was the answer that mattered.) They sat on that rock for a long time afterward, not saying much, just looking at the mountains and letting it sink in that they were going to do this — the whole thing. Together.