Joe was a sophomore at the University of Iowa, and would regularly wear his favorite "Minds Matter" hat when going to class and out on weekends. The hat was designed by a friend's company and they had only sold about 400 of them - so Joe was the only Hawkeye who had heard of the company, or so he thought...

One day while walking to class, Joe heard someone enthusiastically exclaim "Hey! Minds Matter!". Joe looked up, and saw Jenna pointing to his hat and smiling as they walked past each other. Jenna and Joe soon came to recognize each other as "Minds Matter Girl" and "Minds Matter Guy", running into each other regularly on the way to class and at many, many concerts at the Blue Moose in Iowa City. Although they hadn't actually met yet both of them were always happy to see the other, and Minds Matter Guy definitely had a crush on Minds Matter Girl!

The following Spring, Joe and some friends went on a bar crawl to support a friend raising money for the Baseball Club at Iowa. As it turns out, Jenna and her friends were on the same bar crawl, raising money to support the very same friend! Joe and Jenna struck up a conversation, and ended up talking for hours that afternoon and long into the evening - realizing they had quite a few mutual friends (finally solving the Minds Matter Mystery!), and talking about their love of Umphrey's McGee, music festivals and concerts. They soon came to realize they had been going to all of the same shows as one another for years, and they would very quickly come to realize they never wanted to go to a show without the other again - they truly had found their other half.

Joe and Jenna started dating that Spring (2014), and continued dating through Joe's graduation from Iowa in the Spring of 2015. Jenna still had one more year to finish her degree at Iowa, and Joe drove back to Iowa City every weekend to visit her that entire year. While long distance is never easy, these two knew they had something special and were determined to make the best of it!

Over the next few years, Jenna and Joe lived their best lives - traveling the country and internationally together frequently, exploring National Parks (Olympic, Smoky Mountain, Acadia, Shenandoah, Joshua Tree, Saguaro), National Forests/State Parks (too many to list), and traveling the country to see their favorite bands and musicians.

Then the pandemic hit. Not wanting to shelter apart from each other (and with some fortuitously timed leases and very amenable roommates), the two moved in together in March of 2020. On April 19th, they welcomed Phoebe - a 9 week old, 14 lbs, green-eyed fuzzball of a Labrador-mix to their little family. Phoebe was (and remains) a shining light in their world - giving the two endless joy and bringing them even closer together as they "co-pawrented" the tireless, mountaineering, water-loving pup.

In May of 2021, Joe and Jenna decided to make the big decision to buy a condo together and moved to Avondale.

On May 5th, 2023, Jenna and Joe were out on the trails of the Shenandoah Mountains bright and early. Joe had it all planned out - he was going to find one of Shenandoah's famous overlooks, with views spanning the valleys, waterfalls, and mountains of this gorgeous corner of the country - and pop the question.

The two were so happy and on Cloud 9 after the proposal that they may have hiked 2 miles in the wrong direction while descending from Compton Peak, but as long as the two had each other they would never be lost again.

Things to Do coming soon!