Our Wild Love Story
- Greg Luesink
- Sep 25, 2023
- 14 min read
Updated: Mar 10
I'm a sucker for romance, what can I say! I've been oh-so looking forward to writing this: how I met the love of my life, my wife, Jas. This was actually quite challenging to write - there is just so much to say... alas, I've tried my best to keep it to the main events.
Let's start from the beginning...
I'm trying something a little different this time. Here is a Table of Contents for this grand story:
The day we met, Sept 22, 2022
Of Cold Water and Warm Hearts
By random circumstance, I met a lad named Jacob when I worked at Mt Waddington's Outdoors. He was looking for a new cooking pot, which I sold him. After chatting for a while, I offered to take him out climbing some time, which he seemed very excited about. After we climbed, he invited me "cold-dipping" with his friends Ashley and Jasmine. I was intrigued, so agreed to attend their next river dip. Naturally, I assumed it would be a quick in-and-out "polar plunge," which I'd done before.
Early in the morning, I biked over to Peach Park. Upon arrival, two gals in rubber boots greeted me with an enthusiastic,
"Greg! Welcome!"
I didn't recognize them, but it felt safe to assume that they were Jacob's friends. Soon, Jacob arrived, and we headed to the dipping spot, stripping down to our swimsuits and donning toques for the plunge. Feeling the frigid water with my foot, I nervously said aloud that "at least it will be a short stint in the water!"
"Oh no, Greg, we stay in for 5-10 minutes." they all responded.
Gulp.
And thus, I was coerced into staying in that chilling water for 10 minutes. As I tried to control my hyperventilation, I recall Jas swimming around and singing songs from the Little Mermaid, comfortably acclimated from frequent dips.
From the moment we met, Jas caught my eye. Not only was she a tall, gorgeous blond, she also had a easy-going, joyful nature about her. I found out that she is a Jesus follower as well: another box checked! I decided to come back the next week for another dip, and it certainly wasn't just for the supposed "health benefits" of cold-plunging. By the second cold dip, Jas offered to pick me up from home rather than me biking and shivering all the way back. I gladly accepted the opportunity to have some one-on-one time.
Of Cards, Caving, and Climbing
Just over a week later, in October, I mentioned to the crew that there were some caves up Chilliwack Lake Road, and we could check them out if they were interested. My friend Nate joined, plus Ashley, Jacob, and Jas followed down into a hole in the ground to explore. Highlights include Jas using me as a human shield from a packrat and I got my leg stuck in a tight squeeze. But we made it out in one piece!
A few days later, it was my birthday, which landed on the usual cold-dipping day. I arrived at the river, and Jas handed me a birthday card that she painted, signed by the cold-dippers. I was starting to suspect that she was interested in me, too.
One week later, it was Jas' birthday. Ashley got my number from Jacob and asked if I would take everyone climbing as a surprise for Jas' special day, which I happily agreed to. I stayed up until 2 am to finish making her card so it'd be ready in time! I knew it was a unique chance to reciprocally express my interest in her. After a very fun morning of climbing with Jas, Dana, Jacob, and Ash, I was driving back with Jacob separately, and asked,
Is Jas seeing anyone right now?
To which Jacob replied something to the effect of,
She's not seeing anyone... I don't want to help you too much, more fun to let it happen naturally. Just don't trip on your own feet, Greg. Only you can get in the way!
Later that day, I got a text from Jas. She had gotten my number from Ashley, apparently fed up with waiting on me to ask for her number! This may be one of the most exciting feelings that I can remember: the girl I was interested in was pursuing me back and I could not believe my luck! Cue the red button that says
That was easy.
Somewhere in there, Jas invited her mom, brother, and sister in-law to river dip, so I got to meet Jas' family. We posed for a photo after, but I was too nervous to put my arm around Jas... despite the sparks already flying.
From this point onwards we were nigh inseparable. We went on a few more hangouts in October, including bird and salmon watching at the blue heron reserve. We worked on projects for school (at my mom's house, where Jas ended up staying for an omelet dinner), and kept on river dipping with the crew. Eventually, it was time for me to ask her on a "real" date...
Our "First Date" - Nov 6, 2022
Jas was finishing up her Bachelor's in biology and ecology of organisms, and she had developed a particular love of birds. Thus, we decided to go for a picnic at Cheam Wetlands. We watched the birds, ate food, and talked endlessly. This was a particularly fun memory, as we "pulled back the curtain" on the last few weeks of pursuing each other and could not stop laughing at all the behind the scenes happenings. The last month of mutual pursuit was straight out of a movie. After our date, we went back to my parent's house to hang out with my nieces Kinsi and Holly (just 2 weeks old).
The next week, on the way to my sister's birthday party, Jas and I were driving up to Cultus and were discussing the difficulties of introducing one another to our friend groups. Were we just going on dates? Were we "dating"?
We both agreed that this path didn't seem likely to end any time soon. So, although it had been less than 2 months since we met, I asked Jas to "go steady" with me and be my girlfriend. She emphatically agreed. We arrived at Stillwood, and I happily informed anyone that asked that "this is my girlfriend, Jas."
The winter months rolled on, and we continued to spend as much time together amidst our busy schedules. In fact, the semester of Fall 2022 turned out to be my busiest period of life ever (I hope). I was working at 3 jobs, taking several classes, and conducting my own undergraduate research thesis on finger training for rock climbers. I was at the climbing gym 4 nights a week doing data collection, working on the weekends, and in classes during the week. I've never napped more in my life! Jas was also busy with her last semester of school, studying for finals, and house-sitting all over Chilliwack. It certainly wasn't a boring point in our relationship; every moment was special and we never tired of each other's company.
Love at First Hike
Over Christmas, Jas went to visit her brother Lucas and his wife Jenni at Malibu Club on the coast. We missed each other a lot, and messaged whenever we could. When Jas came back, we set out on our first adventure together (after dying my beard)... snowshoeing up Flatiron with my dad, Uncle Dave, and brother Eric. We had a grant time, frolicking in the wintery mountains.
On this adventure, I knew that Jas was the woman for me, when she said:
I love going uphill!
At this point, you might say that it was love at first hike.
Winter pressed on, and while Jas was finished with school, I was not. Amidst busy academic commitments, we made time to climb at the gym, trail run, river dip, and be with each other's family and friends, and even make very belated Christmas cards! Highlights were celebrating Jas' graduation at Banter with friends, hanging out with Brendan and Megan visiting from Saskatchewan, and getting so many people stoked on cold dipping!
Up Springeth Love, March 2023
As spring started to unfold, cold dipping took a back seat to outdoor climbing. Also, we went on a trip to Washington to present my research project at a conference. This was a really fun trip together, and we got to explore a bit of Bellingham between conference events.
The rest of spring, we spent much of our free time climbing between classes and work. What started with an admittedly ambitious first day out at Prison Crag (there was still snow on the ground and ice on the walls in March), soon turned into warm, sunny days at Harrison Bluffs and Slesse Creek.
In the Spring, I ran BC Backyard Ultra in Salmon arm. Jas and our friend Maddy drove from Chilliwack to pick me up after the event, and we all went off to Skaha to do some climbing with Nich and Sophie. This was yet another spectacular time with Jas and with friends, full of laughs, adventure, rattle snakes, and hammocks.
A Momentous Occasion
In the middle of May, it was our "6 months" of being "official" as boyfriend-girlfriend. The day before, I had summited Mt Baker, and then on May 13 Jas and I celebrated the best 6 months of our lives. We took a packraft to Elbow Lake for a paddle and picnic, then jumped in the water, climbed a little, and went back to Jas' house sitting gig for some dinner. We chatted long into the evening, and on this day, and I shared with Jas a momentous thought that had been on my mind:
Jas, I want to marry you
Well good, cuz I want to marry you too, Greg
Elated would be the understatement of the century!
Long before, I had created an nerdy analogy about muscle fibres for my idea of what aspects relationships require to successfully do the "Marathon of Marriage." I used this in my sappy monologue to tell Jas that I wanted to marry her. Please indulge my metaphor. It goes something like this:
If you want to run the marathon of marriage, you can't just rely on fast-twitch muscles. You can't sprint! You also can't run a marathon on medium-twitch muscles, even though you might get a bit further before fatiguing. You need slow-twitch fibres to keep you going steadily for the entire marathon. Marriage is a marathon, not a sprint. Fast-twitch fibres are things like physical attraction. While attraction causes a "spark", and gets the ball rolling, you can't just marry a smokin' hot individual and expect the rest to pan out (Hollywood anyone?). Medium-twitch fibres are like shared hobbies and interests; for us that is climbing, biking, hiking etc. Sure, these could get you a bit further in life, but eventually you won't have time or be physically able to do these things. If the relationship is built on fun activities, it falls apart when those things stop happening. Finally, slow-twitch fibres are understanding the values and beliefs and reaching the core of an individual. This is what gets you the distance in the marathon of marriage. And, just like it takes a long time to train slow-twitch muscles, it takes dedicated practice and training to develop those long-distance fibres. When you have all three of these fibres working together, you have got something really good going on.
I could write a book about this metaphor, and the beautiful complexities that it conveys about marriage and relationships. Jas and I had only been together 6 months, but both of us had dated other people before, and had a very good idea of who we were looking for. It only took 6 months for us to be certain that we wanted to get married. For others, it might take longer, or even less time, but as the old saying goes: once you know, you know! From the get-go, I was very attracted to Jas, and that certainly got the ball rolling. But, as I've said, I was just as attracted to her bubbly personality, which is all the more reason that I fell for her. Our shared interests bolstered our time spent getting to know each other's hearts, and before long, we just knew.
There was no stopping this train. Choo-choo!
We spent the next weeks gleefully spending time together: biking, climbing, and jumping in the river. Since our realization of wanting to get married, we talked about how we would date for a while longer, get engaged, and maybe get married the following May. Meanwhile, several of our friends had recently gotten engaged and inviting us to their weddings that Fall. Quickly, we realized that we didn't want to wait that long. So, we decided to get married in the same year and started looking into the details, including getting rings...
But first, Jas and I got to walk across the stage at UFV for our graduation from our bachelor's degrees. We relished in the fruits of many years of studying and hard work.
This is a good time to mention that I had applied for the Master's of Physiotherapy program at UBC, got an interview, but did not get offered a spot. This meant no school in the Fall... opening up the possibility of a Fall wedding. The pieces were "falling" in place.
Summer Shenanigans
Amidst all of the planning, Jas and I got out on many adventures in the summer. Wittenberg and Flora with Ben, Laughington together, Jim Kelly and Coquihalla with Eric, biking with Andrew and Sandy, river dipping at Alison Pools, and much more. Jas also supported me by riding 111km for the last loop of my 444 km charity ride - yet another incredible bonding experience! You can read about most of these adventures in other posts.
By mid-July, we were wedding planning in full force. We'd found a venue at Stillwood, decided on a date for late September so it could be outdoors, ordered my wedding ring, and I had almost finished our wedding website to send out invites.
Only one thing was missing... the proposal!
The Proposal
The Ring
It was already the end of July, and I had been planning for weeks to propose, waiting for the ring to arrive.
About that ring.
Jas was resolute that she did not want a diamond. Instead, she and her "high council" of BFF's (Dana and Ashley) had sent me some pinterest boards with ideas, including some moss agate rings. Long story short, I found a company called Capucinne that made exactly what I was looking for: a moss agate centre stone with two opal side stones (opal for Jas and me, both October babies). I was able to have some input on the design, including selecting a hexagon stone that fit perfectly with a v-shaped wedding band.
I was gobsmacked when I saw the ring in person for the first time. I could not believe how such detail could be condensed into such a tiny trinket. It looked so close-up in the photos, but only fit on my pinky finger in real life.
The next step was getting rid of any suspicion. A small lie was required. I feigned uncontrollable excitement and told Jas that ring would arrive in mid-August. She was very startled that I had given up this information:
Nooooo, I didn't want to know when it would be hereeeee.
I faked an apology, masking my master plan with an honest "mistake" of being too excited.
A Surprise at Midnight, Aug 3rd - 4th
Little did she know, the ring had already arrived, and it was time. I'd planned a hike with Jas and Maddy into my favourite spot in the Chilliwack River Valley: the Middle Cheam Range. Due to a perfect weather window followed by rain, we departed from Chilliwack after Jas and Maddy finished landscaping, and started hiking at 7 pm. We hiked for hours as darkness settled in the mountains, only broken up by our headlamps and the rising moon.
The scariest moment came at midnight, just before breaking from the thick trees into the sub-alpine. I paused before a rocky step and turned back, spotting a pair of wide-set eyes glowing in the dark ~150m downhill. I yelled "HEYYY!!!!" as loud as I could at the animal... and it didn't flinch. Jas and Maddy were totally startled by the the aggression in my voice, and I quickly told them to come up to me as my light pierced the darkness. Maddy terrified to have been in the back became a Jas-and-Greg-sandwich as I walked in the back with bear-spray ready and light scanning the path behind us. It could only have been a cougar, to be stalking us so late at night, and to be undeterred by vocalization.
We hiked for a while longer, slowly calming down as we put distance between us and the animal in the open alpine. We walked past Munday Lake, reflecting the Waning Gibbous moon. I consoled Maddy and Jas that a cougar would have no interest in following us all the way up here, as it would have no place to hide to surprise us. This may not be true, but in the moment, it was enough to calm our minds as we set up for an open bivy. Maddy fell fast asleep while Jas and I cooked some dinner until 2 am.
We set an alarm for dawn at 4:30 am...
All too soon, my watch was buzzing on my wrist, telling me that it was go-time. I roused Maddy and Jas and we bundled up in some layers. Maddy was preparing some shots, and I kept running back to her to check. Soon enough, we had the perfect shot lined up, so I sprinted back to Jas, ring box in my pocket...
Maddy captured the most magical moment we have every had in the mountains. The dawning of a new day, and also the start of something truly special. I'll get right to the best part: I asked Jas to marry me, and Jas said YES!
At this point, you're probably not surprised, considering we'd already been planning a wedding... But man alive was this worth the suspense eh??
After taking some more photos together, I got the camera from Maddy and poked around. As the sun hit Baker and Slesse, I snapped some of my favourite photos I've ever, which you might recognize from the Wackyard Adventures Header image!
After all the excitement, our 2 hours of sleep caught up to us, and we promptly crashed back into our sleeping bags to slumber for a few more hours. By 10 am, it was too hot, and we all woke up to a blazing sun high in the sky! We packed up our camp, and set off to summit Baby Munday North and Stewart Peaks to cap off an already-excellent day.
There was one final surprise waiting at home after a long hike down to the car. I had organized a bunch of family and friends to meet us at Jas' house for a BBQ dinner to celebrate. Thankfully, Jas had a nap in the car on the way home, so she was at least a little more alert to appreciate the exuberant crowd in front of her.
The Countdown Begins
With only 6 weeks of being "engaged" before our big day, we accomplished a surprising amount of planning and still got out hiking, biking, playing with nieces, and river dipping. The only regretful activity that we did together was agreeing to sweep a section of Fat Dog 120 from midnight until 10am... we were wrecked. Otherwise, we relished the last of summer ahead of our new life together.
In September, Jas and I traveled with Sharon and Dale (my iminent in-laws) to visit my soon-to-be brother and sister-in-law at Malibu Club - what a spectacular place! During a memorable vacation, we chased waterfalls, fished, swam in frigid pools, and paddle-boarded.
Bachelorette and Bachelor Partying
At the end of August, Jas and her ladies set off on a wonderful adventure, aptly entitled "Jassy's Tour de Bride" as the gals bike-packed to Maine Island on the coast. They enjoyed delicious food, hilly bike rides (okay, not everyone enjoyed those apparently), and quality time together.
Meanwhile, since one of my groomsmen was flying in right before the wedding, my Bachelor party actually happened the day before the wedding! Andrew and Brendan planned a smashingly fun day of random events with a whole bunch of friends. Andrew created a series of challenges to take on, including riding a self-assembled clown bike, climbing with oven mitts and eating donuts at Project, pulling a truck in a parking lot, and towing a canoe while dressed in a wetsuit to chug some chocolate milk in the lake. Eventful to say the least!
Our Wedding - A Marriage Covenant of Made
In true miraculous form, God answered our prayers and provided us with a rain-free outdoor ceremony for us and our 350 guests. I could write an entire blog post about this day, but I will simply say this:
I saw Jas walk down the aisle, we exchanged vows, rings, a kiss, and several other displays of our commitment to this lifelong covenant of marriage. This day was spectacular beyond belief. A fairytale of fairytales!
After our ceremony at Stillwood, we regrouped at Maple Bay for a LAKE DIP with as many guests as would indulge our silly antics - probably 100 of our friends joined us for a cold dip in the lake. Afterwards, we ate some picnic dinners and headed back up for a dance party!
It was pretty fun to dip in Cultus lake: just like the day that we met, doing a polar plunge. With that, we jumped into the next chapter in our love story.
You'll just have to keep on reading to see how the adventure unfolds!
Epilogue
Our first adventure as a married couple was on our honeymoon to Garibaldi lake for a lovely two night camping trip. We hiked up to Panorama Ridge to paint and sketch the landscape, and enjoyed the blue skies reflecting in the emerald-blue lake.
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