A long, long time ago in a Land of Enchantment far, far away...Jackie was returning to start junior year at UNM in Albuquerque after spending a semester in Spain and a summer at home in South Dakota. After a long drive in her packed Honda, Jackie stepped out into the parking lot of the sorority house to find her friend, Kelly, and a fraternity boy there to help her unload. He was quiet and cute, but not much came from that first encounter. In fact, over the next year they saw each other at sorority and fraternity events and hung out around each other with mutual friends, but they didn't form a close friendship until the next year.

Fast forward a year to the summer of 2008. Jeff and Jackie had texted over the summer and decided to hang out when Jackie got back into town before starting classes. Though they hadn't hung out much alone, binging episodes of the Office, making donut and ice cream runs, and attending ZPA meetings solidified their friendship. Over the course of Jackie's last year in Albuquerque, the two spent a lot of time together and made a connection that would keep them in touch for years. Jeff even visited Jackie in Rapid City just a month before she would move to China.

Over the course of the next 6 years, Jackie lived in China, St Louis, England, and Greece but the two kept in touch. Jeff flew out to St Louis to spend a (very cold) weekend with Jackie. Despite the weather they had a great time ice skating, seeing zoo animals, and getting lost in City Museum.

In November 2015, Jackie moved to Denver only to find Jeff had tickets to an outdoor hockey game and would be coming to town in a couple of months. While not (yet) a hockey fan, Jackie accepted his invitation to go to a couple of games. Not having seen each other in a couple of years, Jackie and Jeff enjoyed catching up at the Friday night game and had dinner and drinks after. Saturday, Jackie met back up with Jeff and some friends, who had spent the morning at brunch and exploring downtown Denver's robust game day experience. That night's game wasn't quite as enjoyable, but that's another story (which Jackie loves to tell anyone who will listen). The two spent Sunday together having breakfast at Snooze, perusing books at Tattered Cover (Jeff's first of many visits), and strolling around City Park. Jeff flew home to Albuquerque that night, the two not knowing when they would see each other again.

It wouldn't be long.

Jackie & Jeff kept in touch and soon started talking about taking a spontaneous trip. Jeff had the idea to go to a train station, flip a coin, and get on a train to somewhere unknown...only problem is: trains from Denver and Albuquerque don't go very far. Instead, a road trip to the Grand Canyon came to be.

In June 2016, Jackie drove down to Albuquerque and the adventure began. Before she could even settle herself from the drive down, the two jumped in Jeff's car and headed West. They made it to the Grand Canyon just in time for the sunset and a beer (Elevated IPA) with an amazing view (see pictures that don't do it justice). Jackie and Jeff woke up early the next morning to hike down into the Canyon before it got too hot. Finishing up around mid-day, they jumped back into the car and headed down to Sedona for dinner and wine with another beautiful sunset view. The following day they would head back to New Mexico to revisit the UNM campus, visit friends, and make an afternoon/evening trip to Santa Fe (which they now celebrate as the start of their relationship). Jackie would head back to Colorado but the two were already talking about when they'd see each other again and would spend the next few months (and eventually years) travelling to see each other. In Spring 2017, Jeff finnnaally told Nanny (his spunky grandmother) that she could stop referring to Jackie as his "friend" and call her his girlfriend.

Fast forward to Fall 2018, Jeff sold his house and started making plans to move north. On Jackie's birthday the following spring, Jeff made the move to Denver. That summer, they bought a townhouse and adopted their puppy, Luna.

After having to cancel a trip to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo with their friends Rich and Rebecca, J&J decided to take a few days off to spend some time in Southern Colorado.

They started the trip with a night in Alamosa so they could visit the Great Sand Dunes. On their way to the dunes, J&J took a slight detour to hike to Zapata Falls, where they climbed rocks and trekked through freezing cold water to see the falls. On the way down, they could see their next stop off in the distance. A 10 minute drive would take them to the base of the sand dunes where they gathered their things and headed up.

Being a popular place, they had to hike a few dunes until they could find one they could have to themselves. They put out a blanket as the sun started to set. Here Jeff told Jackie that he loved watching sunsets and stars with her and wanted to keep doing it for the rest of their lives. This is when he pulled out a box of Cracker Jack (which was used when both of their dads proposed to their moms) and told her to open it. After struggling to get into the box, Jackie discovered the prize inside: a sticker. She looked to Jeff with clear confusion. He told her since the prize in the Cracker Jack box was lame she could have this one instead, if she would marry him and he pulled out the ring. 'Absolutely, I will,' she replied.

J&J spent the rest of the night laying on the blanket watching the stars and meteor shower in the sky above them.