Instead of writing their own “How We Met” story, Colleen and Jake turned it over to their sisters to hopefully get the full, unbiased, yet succinct, true story. Good idea or bad, we’ll let you decide...

“We swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth....as we believe it happened, heard it second hand and/or experienced it”

- Eileen, Carly & Laura

It was December 2018 - Jake had just started a new job, moved into a new apartment, and decided it was time to take on the dating world by storm (aka, download Hinge). Quickly Jake came upon Colleen’s profile and liked her answer to her favorite thing to do...driving around with the windows down singing along to country music.... After some initial back and forth, Jake asked Colleen out that week, even offering to leave his work holiday party at his new job. Colleen didn’t want him to leave early so she overlooked her “no first dates on weekends” rule and they settled for Friday night. They headed to Hank’s Oyster Bar in DC - apparently their conversation did not include the fact that neither of them have had oysters before and while Jake loves most seafood, Colleen on the other hand does not...except for crab: Maryland style, crab legs, or in this case - 2 orders of crab cakes for the table. After such a great time at dinner, Colleen suggested they get another drink at a beer garden and check out the live music. While there, Jake unfortunately was splattered a bit by someone else’s vomit (cute, right?). Another group nearby, who had witnessed this incident, felt bad and ordered Jake a shot of fireball - a tradition they keep to this day (the shot...not the puking).

With the holidays fast approaching, they squeezed in as many dates as they could before the Cooper family left for their cross country road trip to Dallas to watch Notre Dame and Clemson play in the Cotton Bowl and Jake headed home to Maryland to spend the holidays with his family.

And that’s when their sisters started to catch on...

[Eileen] I knew Colleen had been on a few dates with “Jake” when I saw his name pop up on her phone during our cross country road trip. Once she finally told us she and Jake were officially dating, I knew I had to meet him the first chance I could. I booked a trip to DC just a few weeks later and after a day out in the city and some spontaneous Uber karaoke, I knew these two were perfect for each other. It was only amplified when I saw them dancing to Backstreet Boys “I Want It That Way” at a 90’s bar because I knew he could hold his own at a Cooper/Doran wedding.

[Carly] I first knew something was going on when Jake and I were both home for the holidays and I kept catching him looking down at his phone and smiling. I saw that he was texting Colleen and got the call a few weeks later that they were officially dating! I immediately bonded with Colleen over our love of wine, country music, and...the Bachelor (don’t judge). I knew her and Jake were perfect for each other when at family game night (which can get pretty intense), Colleen matched Jake’s competitiveness and ended up beating the whole family in trivia, spoons, 5 second rule, and even Jake’s best game, Scattergories.

[Laura] After hearing about Jake for months, I knew I had to see what all the hype was for myself. I booked a last minute 4th of July trip to visit some college friends in DC - the perfect opportunity to subtly sneak an intro. We planned to all meet up for dinner, but it turned out that by the time Jake joined us, we were already a few drinks in. Jake handled the situation like a champ - officially getting my stamp of approval when I found out we had a mutual close friend from college, that his dog’s name is Cooper, and the fact that he had a pet hamster growing up named Tickles (though we don’t judge - ours was named Squiggles). We decided to head to another bar afterwards and on the way over, Colleen and Jake were swapping IMDB knowledge (they both have the app) - and then and there, I knew this was the real deal.

Needless to say, for this indecisive couple, this seems to have been the easiest decision they’ve ever made, and there was never a doubt in our minds that we’d be here today. From their ability (read: inability) to cook, to their love of country music, random trivia knowledge, competitive spirits, a shared appreciation of IMDB, and so much more, these two are clearly a match made in heaven… we mean Hinge.