Jim and I met on January 21, 2017. Both of us were attending Jam Cruise, a music festival on a boat, for the first time. On our first full day, I woke up before my friends and decided to read and get some sun on the pool deck. Not long after, a cute boy (enter Jim) came up to me, introduced himself and let me know I was getting pretty sunburned (it happens very quickly for my pale self!) He sat down, we talked for a while and when it was time for me to go meet my friends for lunch, I was enjoying his company so much, I invited him to join us. Jim was effectively adopted into our “crew”!

After we disembarked from our first incredible Jam Cruise, Jim and I occasionally kept in touch on Facebook. It was decided on the boat that for Jam Cruise in 2018, Jim and two of my guy friends would room together, so I knew I’d be seeing him again. As we got closer to the round two cruise, Jim and I were excitedly messaging more often, and I remember telling my roommate at the time I felt like something might happen between Jim and me on the cruise.

We had an…eventful...night in Miami the night before our second Jam Cruise (including multiple incorrect Uber drives, a late night Walmart trip, and an impromptu adoption of a stuffed monkey to sail away with us) While our group was waiting for our ride to port, someone mentioned our adventures the night before and as I turned around to roll my eyes at Jim, he kissed me for the first time!

We greatly enjoyed our second cruise together, and this time when we disembarked, Jim and I quickly made plans to see each other again. For the next 9 months, we managed to see each other about every 6 weeks, despite the 6-hour drive between us. We each put a lot of miles on our cars driving to and from!

In September of 2018, I was scheduled to begin travel nursing. The day I accepted my first contract, I mentioned to Jim that with my new job, it would be easy for me to make my way closer to his home in PA and I was interested in seeing what we could be. Jim immediately called me and officially asked me to be his girlfriend!

After 6 months dating long distance, I accepted a travel contract at a hospital in Danville, PA, making Jim and I just an hour apart. Six months later I returned to Virginia for another 6 month contract and in August of 2020 (peak COVID!) I moved to Pennsylvania to join Jim and his kids permanently.

Just a few weeks after moving in together, our family brought home our first pup, our sweet yellow lab Lilo. The next two years were a whirlwind of puppy kisses, never ending basketball, concerts , festivals, kid’s practices, new jobs for both of us, lots of laughs and lots of love!

In May of 2022, we attended Jazz Fest in New Orleans with a group of our Jam Cruise friends. Our first day there, Jim expressed interest in exploring City Park in New Orleans. Our gang packed up, headed to the park and in front of the “Singing Oak” tree, Jim proposed! It was the easiest “yes!” for me!

Just two weeks after returning from Jazz Fest, we brought home our second lab puppy, a chocolate lab named Sulley!

From puppy training right into wedding planning, our lives got even busier (!) but we are SO looking forward to our wedding weekend celebrating our love with all our friends and family. We feel so lucky and loved and truly cannot wait for our future together!