Despite growing up no more than one-half mile from doorstep to doorstep, attending the same high school, and participating in the same theater department (Hi, Sil!), Mandy and Jasper met and began their dating journey through the dating app Hinge in the summer of 2020. Their first date was a five-and-a-half-hour phone call while Jasper was in the hospital recovering from a major surgery. (Those of you who know Mandy might recognize this as quite shocking behavior, and indeed it goes to show just how smitten and enamored she was with this strange, sick man's forthcoming and tender heart.) Shortly after Jasper was discharged from the hospital, he and Mandy arranged their “first first date,” which featured Mandy driving to Jasper's small studio apartment in SE Portland to (finally!) meet him and, even more exciting, his three kittens. The proceeding months were a blur of day trips to Lost Lake, more late night phone calls, misbegotten gin and tonics, and hastily constructed picnic lunches, during all of which Mandy and Jasper steadily fell more and more in love. (It is acceptable for you to “Awwww” as much as you like while reading this.)

Jasper saw (and still sees) in Mandy a persistent and vulnerable curiosity towards herself and the world she inhabits. Perhaps the two most obvious examples of this are the love and attention she pours into her work at With Love and the dedication and passion she gives to her graduate studies at George Fox University. The deep wisdom, thoughtfulness, and compassion that Mandy brings to her communities are mirrored by the love, awareness, and gentleness she shows herself. Where she walks, sunlight always seems to follow.

If asked what she first noticed about Jasper, Mandy may tell you of an Instagram post he had made a number of months prior to them meeting. The post was simple: a picture of an old kettle and a poem underneath describing the emotion Jasper felt at having to replace it with a newer model. Jasper's gentle appreciation for the mundane is juxtaposed nicely by his abundant playfulness (have you ever seen a grown-ass man yeet a cat onto a pile of blankets?), and his love for witty banter is tempered by grounded thoughtfulness.

In September 2022, Mandy and Jasper moved into their first shared home in Beaverton, Oregon, and it was not long after that Jasper (again, finally!) decided he was ready to pop the question. While out hunting for mushrooms with Mandy's sister and brother-in-law, Sarah and Luke, Jasper spotted a small grassy area covered in a dome of ferns and mossy branches, called Mandy over, and nervously asked the honor of being her best friend forever. (She said yes!)

It feels almost unbelievable to consider that all of this is just the beginning. Already there is so much for Mandy and Jasper to look back on together, but of course, there is so much more to look forward to! We are both especially excited to continue to grow our relationships with our loved ones, many of whom will (hopefully) be in attendance at our ceremony!