Jason Thomas and Hollie Boulden

Jason Thomas first saw Hollie Boulden six months before he ever spoke to her. She was waitressing at Emmet’s Kitchen and Tap in Fayette. Jason’s mom, upon another visit to Emmet’s, remembered Hollie and told her she’d really like her son. And she did like him — a lot.

Both Jason and Hollie come from mid-Missouri families, and both went to school near home (Jason at Missouri State, where he graduated in 2010; Hollie at MU, where she graduated in December). Jason proposed in November, on an unconventional hike through Pickens Nose, in North Carolina. “At the time, there were fires in the North Carolina mountains, and the trails ended up being closed,” Hollie says. “We just climbed past the “no trespassing” sign — Jason said, ‘Come on, it’ll be fun!’”

They got busted by park rangers before reaching the end of the hike. Worried that he was going to miss his chance, Jason proposed then, in front of the rangers, who gave the happy couple a ride back down the mountain.

Hollie currently works as a yoga instructor in Columbia, and Jason works in Atlanta, where the couple will settle down after their May wedding. “We’re looking forward to being together full-time and journeying through life together,” Jason says. “We both can’t wait to travel and establish a family together.”