Jeff was on one of his usual coffee breaks from work when he crossed paths with Estefania in line at Starbucks. Stef was on a quick breakfast stop before she met up with her mom. Jeff was immediately drawn to her and had half a mind to ask her out to dinner. But that would be strange he told himself. He refocused his attention on his coffee order. Stef heard her name called out by the barista, picked up her order, and made her way to the parking lot. That's when Jeff saw her get into a big, lifted, dually Ram 2500 truck. Now he had questions. As his heart palpitations started up again he considered walking right up to her truck to strike up a conversation. But that would be creepy he told himself. He again refocused on his coffee and prepared to watch Stef drive off. But instead, Stef got a call from her mom letting her know she would be later than planned. So she got back out of the truck and went to sit outside of the store to do some reading. Fresh out of excuses, Jeff grabbed his coffee and went out to talk to this girl. He introduced himself and asked if she might be interested in getting dinner sometime. Stef (reluctantly) gave Jeff her number, and the rest is history...

..except that everyone who knows Jeff knows him to be a notorious over-thinker. And so after following up a great first date with an even better second date, he did what anyone in his position would do... (if you guessed ask Stef on a third date that be a good guess but you'd be wrong!). He took the next couple of weeks to consider the chances of this relationship going the distance and decided it would be safer to not take the risk. He wrote Stef a letter telling her that although he admired her and enjoyed her company, he would not be asking her on any further dates. You could imagine that Stef found this letter confusing and decided it would be better if it were shredded into a thousand pieces. And so, Jeff and Stef went their separate ways...

..but then one day about three months later Jeff received a text from Stef that he might be seeing her more often. She had been referred for a job position at his company by her sister who also worked there. The position was a huge opportunity for Stef, and she had accepted it. She wanted to make sure that their previous encounter would not interfere with her new career so she wanted to give him a heads up. She told him that she'd be working as a "PC" and Jeff thought to himself that she would do a great job in the Project Coordinator position. He congratulated her and let her know he was excited for her to join the team. Jeff had figured that his interactions with Stef would be limited, since her Project Coordinator role was way on the other side of the plant - an entire world away from the shop floor where he spent his work days. The catch was that Stef hadn't accepted a Project Coordinator job at all, but rather a Production Controller (PC!!) position, and they would be having close interactions pretty much every day...

..and so Jeff and Stef got to know each other more and more each day just through going to work. Jeff found himself inventing reasons to visit Stef’s office. He quickly came to see that there was more there between him and Stef than a couple dates, but he still had the issue of not wanting to date his co-worker. And so he gritted his teeth and held out for as long as he could - a whole two months. Six months to the day from their first Starbucks encounter, Jeff and Stef began their relationship - this time for good! They still didnt have everything figured out, but they felt that God was giving them peace to just take the next step.

..one step at a time Jeff and Stef continued to grow in their relationship. First it was a trip down to Guadalajara for Jeff to meet Stef's family - shortly there after it was a trip to Pennsylvania for her to meet his. They continued weaving their lives together over the next two years, including Jeff spending increasingly more time with Stef's son Brandon. In March of 2024, Jeff and Brandon took a trip to Pennsylvania over spring break to go see Jeff's family while Stef stayed back to work. Jeff's family knew that if he and Brandon were visiting without Stef that it was only a matter of time now and were eagerly waiting for him to pop the question...

..until one day in May 2024 when Jeff proposed to Stef on a sunrise Cathedral Rock hike in Sedona. Jeff rounded up the gang at 4am. To everyone's surprise Stef was the straggler, she's usually the early riser, but not this time! Brandon kept the big secret for an entire day as Jeff had told him the day before on a fun outing to Slide Rock. Brandon was so excited and there to photograph the moment as Jeff walked Estefania out onto the ledge and got down on one knee. She had NO idea. Jeff had gone to great lengths to make it a surprise as evidenced by the ring not fitting at all. With tears streaming down her face, Stef said yes!

..and at last on November 16th Jeff, Stef, & Brandon begin their new life together as a family.