If you ask Jake and Abbey how they met you will most likely get different stories... but this how it really went:

In early 2020, COVID hit the world and changed everything how we knew it.

Jake returned to Ft. Bragg in March of 2020 following a year long deployment in Afghanistan. Abbey was back in Pinehurst after a cruise with friends for spring break. Both quarantined from recent travels in 2 separate cities 45 mins apart.

One night out of boredom Abbey was swiping through Bumble and came across Jake. He caught her eye so, she swiped right and it came across the screen as an instant match. Of course, on Bumble the girl has to message first to start the conversation. The conversation started with just a "Hey, what's up?"

From that one line, they were up all hours of the night going back and forth on this dating app until they exchanged phone numbers. Texting lead to calls and facetimes. Due to their recent travels, quarantine was mandatory 2 weeks. Following those 2 weeks, they met for the first time in person.

The first few dates took place at Abbey's parent's house since everything was closed. Those nights consisted of movie nights on the couch and late night conversations. Their first real date was spent at the park taking Daisy and Buster on a walk through the trails.

Summer approached and the beach became their favorite weekend getaway, and where they spent most of their time when they weren't working. More places began to open following the heat of COVID and things started to feel normal again.

Here they are 4 years later and getting married. For those that are sceptical that dating apps don't work, they are one of the success stories.

***If you asked Jake how they met, it would be some crazy made up story, just to avoid bringing up the dating app phase