Jay's Version:

I came up to Josiah's (Jared and Abby Patterson's son) first birthday party. Said my pleasantries to everyone that I knew and got a plate of food and sat down. Presents were being opened and one of our friends was seated between Gabi and myself. They were talking with each other and I was introduced to Gabi then. Said very few words to her being my introverted self. As the party was winding down and making my way to my car I was talking with Jared and found that I had a nail in one of my tires. Before leaving, Gabi came up to say her goodbyes as well and I told her is was nice to meet her. Not long after she had left Jared told me she was single while giving the raised eyebrows look and even Jared's mom told be how nice of a girl Gabi was. A few weeks pass and Jared texts me about Gabi asking if he could invite her to the friend group annual Red Lobster dinner and I agreed. Gabi and I maybe have 2 minutes of solid conversation the whole dinner. Some more time passes and we are again invited to another couple's dinner as the only 2 single people there. After dinner we go back to Jared and Abby's apartment for some games. There a plan was hatched to follow up with creative responses to initial text messages. Abby gives Gabi my phone number and she initiates conversation and I respond with the previously planned responses. Finally work up enough courage to ask her to a dinner and a movie date night. We ended up watching Dolittle at Cinébistro in the Halcyon in Alpharetta. Afterwards we sit in the freezing cold eating ice cream and talk for about 2-3 hours. A few months pass and I surprise Gabi by driving up to Dahlonega and very early in the morning on May 15th I asked Gabi to be my girlfriend. Many months of long distance relationship and 2 master's programs later I finally proposed at Anna Ruby Falls in Helen, GA and here we are today!

Gabi's Version:

Once upon a time, I worked at the University of North Georgia (UNG) in Residence Life with a few of my buddies. It was a typical day in the office, when Jared and Jarrod were scrolling through social media. Talks about singleness, dating, and relationships were brought up. They then made the connection that I was single and their friend, Jay, was also single. Jared showed me Jay's Facebook profile and I think I responded with something like "he's pretty cute, if we ever cross paths and we get to meet, we’ll see what happens". Keep in mind, Jay has never been active on social media, so there wasn’t a whole lot of material to work with haha.

In November of 2019, I was invited to Josiah's first birthday party, where Jared and Abby had mentioned Jay would likely also be coming! Keeping this in mind, I tried to dress extra cute and on theme with the birthday party, to be sure to make a great first impression with Jay... even though he had no clue who I was. Leading up to the day of the party, I did revisit Jay’s FB profile to get a sense of who he was, which looking back, did give me a bit of an advantage walking into this whole thing. Once I got to the party and said hey to friends, I grabbed food and made sure to sit down at the table Jay was at. Our mutual friend, Allye, was sitting between us and made the introduction. I said my name to Jay and tried to make conversation, explaining how I work with Jared and Jarrod in Res Life. And in true Jay fashion, he said "oh cool" and then quickly turned around.

Before I left the party, I went around thanking Jared and Abby and their families for the invite to celebrate with them. As I was walking out to my car, Jared was in a circle with Jay and a few other guys in the parking lot. I was intentional about saying goodbye to Jay, making sure to give him a hug and express how nice it was to meet him. Well... it was some first impression... because Jay still claims to this day that I never hugged him haha.

Some days past, and every so often "The Jarreds" would mention Jay in conversation in the office, talking about the good ole days and many memories from their group in the college years. Based on everything I had heard, Jay seemed like a very caring, fun loving, and generous person. My interest was piqued! **Spoiler Alert** all the amazing things they said about Jay turned out to be true!!

Jared and Abby mentioned to me an upcoming annual, friends-gathering type dinner.... another opportunity to interact with Jay. I was interested in attending! The whole car ride there, Jared and Abby took turns swapping stories about Jay and their group. So, again, I had way more backstory about Jay than he did about me. But when we got into conversation, I just pretended I didn't know haha.

At this dinner, Jay shared with me how he was applying to various graduate schools to become a Physician Assistant (PA) and preparing for interviews. He talked about how competitive PA school programs are and how strenuous the interview processes could be. I tried to be encouraging and gave Jay a "you got this" thumbs up!

More time passed and I was now the person bringing up Jay's name in the office would often ask the guys if they had heard from him recently. Jared and Abby kept inviting Jay and I to group hangouts... when in reality we were the only 2 single people there. Eventually digits were shared and I made the first bold move and texted Jay first. We continued texting daily, eventually, FaceTimed, and then eventually went on our very first date on January 25, 2020!

We continued meeting up, about once a month, fun date nights that were halfway between Dahlonega and Peachtree City. We talked daily and were able to build a solid friendship, despite the long distance... and the introduction of the pandemic! Fast forward a few months, to May 2020, Jay drove up to Dahlonega and totally surprised me! Jared and Abby coordinated to have us over for a grill out at their place. And it was after that night, on May 15, that Jay asked me to be his girlfriend and my life changed forever!

God has truly blessed us with the gift of our relationship! In our 4 1/2 + years of dating, most of that was spent long distance, as we encouraged each other through grad school programs from afar- Jay at LMU in Knoxville and I remaining at UNG in Dahlonega. Then, we got to cheer as we each pursued post-grad career opportunities.

As we became more serious in our dating, we knew we were looking to enter a season where we could see each other more regularly. In June of 2023, God provided the incredible job opportunity that allowed me to move to a location that was just 20 minutes from Jay, rather than our normal 2 hours. Our new closeness, distance wise, allowed us to spend more time together, strengthening our relationship even more.

On October 15, 2023, Jay and I went on a hike at the beautiful Anna Ruby Falls. We hiked up, having dated 3 1/2 years and hiked back down as a giddy, newly engaged couple! It was the easiest YES and this has been the sweetest, joy filled season!

We are so thankful for God weaving all the details of our story together and His goodness, allowing Jay and I to meet each other at the perfect time!

So, ya never know what could happen when you say “yes” to an invite to a party or group hang. We are so thankful for our entire wedding party, including Abby and Jared, to stand beside each of us on our big day. And, for their son, Josiah, to have the honor of being our ring bearer. Moral of the story is...mutual friends are THE best and our relationship is proof that set ups can actually work!