Jenna and Ryan's love story began 15 years ago in Moorestown, NJ. They met on their first day freshman year in Ms. Lipinsky's english class, when fate paired them up for a Tale of Two Cities project. Ryan will tell you that the moment he saw Jenna he got butterflies and it was love at first sight. She learned that he liked her and she definitely had a crush on him but they never quite got the timing right during high school. They shared a couple of kisses and passed some notes along the way, but it never worked out. Fun fact, Jenna was actually Ryan's first kiss!
It was junior year of college for them, they were both single, still friends, and decided what the heck, let's officially date. An interesting choice considering Ryan was up at Penn State and Jenna was down in Gainesville attending UF. But hey, what could go wrong starting a relationship in college, long distance? They dated for about three months but the timing just wasn't right. Ryan and Jenna stayed in touch in their early 20's but all communication stopped around 2015-2016 during a time period they now call "the dark ages".
Fast forward to July 2018 and Ryan texts Jenna out of the blue asking if he could call and talk about residency programs at UF Health where she worked. They were both incredibly nervous to talk to each other for the first time in years. When he called they talked briefly about the hospital and then he goes something along the lines of, well, the real reason I wanted to talk to you is that no matter where life has taken me I can't stop thinking about you.
He told her he was going to be in Miami, Fl in August for a med school rotation and asked her to come down to see him. He wanted see if these feelings were just built up in his head after all these years. So she took a chance and went to Miami with her dog Tucker. They probably had a little too much wine and stayed up late talking about the future they wanted, old feelings, new feelings, and just catching up on life. All while dodging falling palm fronds and an exploding Airstream (where Jenna was suppose to be staying while there). Each time he left Jenna had this overwhelming feeling of just needing to be near him, something she had never felt about anyone. It was like the universe had finally aligned for them, and if he wasn't near the world felt out of balance. She will describe it as feeling like a magnet as if she was being pulled towards him and when he was gone needing to be close again. Each night she asked(begged) him to stay, offering to sleep on the floor or the chair, she really did not want to let him go now that he was back in her life. Being the amazing guy that he is, he left each night.
After a long hug, Ryan went home to New Jersey and Jenna went back to Gainesville. The took things slow and saw each other probably 2 -3 times a month given the distance. January 1st, 2019 Ryan took Jenna back to a park in their hometown. It's a place they both spent an afternoon in high school where he remembers thinking that he needed this girl in his life forever. He said that on that day he couldn't ask Jenna to be his girlfriend so he was going to do it now and asked if she would. Of course Jenna said yes!
One short month later Jenna and Ryan decided that they were made for each other and that there was no one else they would want to spend their lives with. It was the easiest decision either of them had ever made. The ring was purchased in February but the earliest he could come down to ask for her mom's blessing was 4/16/18. He asked her that morning, and proposed to her that evening! Her best friend had asked him when he was planning on doing it and he said the moment he got her blessing. And he did. On a jetty she use to sail by all the time with her Dad. Both of them will tell you they have no idea what he said when he proposed, Jenna says she blacked out in pure happiness. She of course said yes and the couple ended up booking a wedding venue the next day, exactly 365 days from the wedding date! 4/17
*They would like to credit Jenna's mom for crawling around in the sand undetected to get the proposal pictures!
Ryan has since moved down to Florida and the two have been living together in Gainesville, a place where they both shared aspirations of living and attending college 15 years ago. Everything has come full circle and while there were twists and turns, heartbreak and dark ages, they will both agree that the timing was perfect and they wouldn't have it any other way.