Our story didn't start

on the same page,

but we found our way

to the perfect chapter.

Jen and Carl’s love story isn’t about perfect timing—it’s about two people finding each other when the time was right.

The couple didn’t meet in the traditional way. Each had a life to live first. Lives shaped by the loves, losses, and memories that filled their individual stories, chapter by chapter. Now the couple is ready to write the rest of that story together.

Jen’s journey sent her her crisscrossing eastern Iowa as she raised her three incredible kids—Ava, Camille, and Isaiah. Eventually, however, she found herself reconnecting with old friends when she moved back to one of her earliest homes in Cedar Rapids—a move that would lead her to Carl.

Carl’s life had taken him in various directions as well. He’s a father to beautiful Kenzie and a grandfather to her kiddos, who light up his life.

In each other, Jen and Carl found something real, honest, and exactly what they needed. Neither Jen nor Carl was thinking about their "forever" when they met. But when it came, they were ready.

Their paths didn’t align for firsts, but the family Jen and Carl have built since is something truly incredible. No need to look back—together, these two are exactly where they belong.