Jacob and I matched on a dating app in June of 2023. After one week of talking, we decided we wanted to meet in person. I remember driving to his apartment in Cedar Falls and being so nervous. Our first night together was spent playing Mario Kart, Jacob showing me his nerdy collection- he said he needed to do this our first night to make sure if it was too much for me so I could end things early, and staying up late talking. By the end of the night, he asked me to be his girlfriend.

The next morning, we left early for Des Moines for our first official date — shopping at Jordan Creek Mall, eating at Zombie Burger & Cheesecake Factory, and visiting the Blank Park Zoo. The rest of our weekend was spent with Jacob showing me around Cedar Falls- his hometown, kayaking, and visiting a couple of trails. Looking back now, we can’t believe we spent three days together the first time we met. For our first two months together, I lived in Cedar Rapids so that meant a lot of driving back and forth. After two months, I made the move to Cedar Falls to live with Jacob and his beagle Maverick.

In November of 2023, we took our first big adventure together to New York City. We drove to Chicago and spent the day exploring the city and had an interesting night at a very sketchy hotel. We spent a week in NYC and had a blast. It was my first time flying and our first time traveling out of state together— maybe a little ambitious, but it was such a fun trip we won't forget.

In January 2024 we started house hunting and moved into our home in March. We have loved owning a home together and making it ours. A few months later, Maverick got a little brother. We knew we wanted another dog in the future but figured it would be a couple more years so this was unexpected. One morning, I was on Facebook and saw a post in a “Free Pets in Iowa” group of the cutest puppy — now known as our dog, Rocky. I sent the post to Jacob jokingly, saying, “Look how cute he is!” Next thing we knew, we were driving after work to pick up a puppy. Now we can’t imagine our little family without Maverick and Rocky — they keep our lives full of love and a lot of chaos.

From the moment we met, Jacob knew how much I love Wisconsin and being anywhere in nature, I always joked that Wisconsin would be the perfect proposal spot. In June of 2024, he told me he had a “work trip” in La Crosse, Wisconsin. For an entire year, he had me convinced it really was a work trip! Before checking into our Airbnb, he said he wanted to explore a nearby state park — which didn’t seem suspicious since we visit new trails often. When we arrived at Wildcat Mountain State Park, we stopped at a scenic overlook. It was raining the entire drive up the mountain, when I mentioned to Jacob that I hoped the trails weren't too muddy and that he hates rain, I figured he wouldn’t want to do trails anymore. He said it wasn't a big deal. We parked and walked to a scenic outlook to look at the trail map, it had stopped raining at this point and I asked Jacob to move so I could take a picture and when I turned around, he was down on one knee. On June 27, 2025 I said yes to a lifetime with Jacob, my best friend. It was the perfect proposal and the perfect weekend together. Afterwards, we celebrated with dinner in LaCrosse and spent the weekend celebrating our engagement.

Together, Jacob and I love the outdoors — camping and hiking, attending church and growing in our faith, Iowa State sporting events, amusement parks, playing Minecraft, traveling, and spending time with our families. We probably scared both of our moms a few times during our first year together, but we wouldn’t change a thing. We can’t wait to start the next chapter of our life as husband and wife.