(Photo of the happy couple the first night they met)

When we share our story with others, we usually start with the phrase “we would never recommend what we did for anyone else”.
The start to our relationship was risky, but we both had uncompromising faith in each other that it would work.
Like many other couples, how we met was purely spontaneous.
Unlike many other couples, we met each other and immediately jumped into a long distance relationship…

~Setting the Stage~
It all begins in early September 2018: Nashville, TN.

Justin had planned an eventful bachelor party weekend for his brother, Alex, as the best man. Top golf, bar hopping on Broadway, and a pedal tavern were all on the itinerary.
Meanwhile, Jessica had decided she wanted to take a vacation somewhere…so she called up her good friend Shannon who had just moved to, of all places, Nashville.
What does Shannon immediately add to their weekend itinerary?

A pedal tavern of course 😉

The girls showed up to the pedal tavern building, on time we might add…while other patrons all arrived around the same time.
As the pedal tavern appointment time came and went, there was still more than half of the pedal tavern reservation missing…under the name of :
“Justin—Bachelor Party”.

Cue the rainstorm.
Thunder, lighting, huge gusts of wind, sideways rain…and the pedal tavern has a no cancellations policy, no matter what!

It should be noted, the large group of people who attend a pedal tavern all contribute to the speed and power of the trolley, so without the “Justin” party members, it was a spin class in the middle of a hurricane for the rest of them.
You could say the group of people on the trolley were not huge fans of this guy “Justin”.

As for the “Justin” party, what better night to use Uber for the first time? The night of the pedal tavern of course!

Earlier in the evening, a member of the bachelor party had mentioned this great new driving app that is always fast and convenient for transporting people…just ironically not theirs that evening.

The Uber driver debacle caused Justin and the rest of the group to show up late to the pedal tavern building, where the manager explained their lovely “no cancellations policy”. He then recommended meeting the rest of the group at their first bar stop.
So, with a huge distrust of the Uber App now, the group started their mad dash to the first bar in that cute little hurricane.

Arriving at the bar sopping wet from the storm, they walked in and noticed their matching pedal tavern wrist bands on some people standing at the bar top.

“Hey are you guys with the pedal tavern?”
-Justin

(3 people over from the group being asked)
“Are YOU Justin?!”
-Jessica…running over while holding an “adult” capri sun and including a few other colorful words.

According to Justin, the rest of that conversation was something out of a movie where he no longer heard what Jessica was saying…but rather, “the Charlie Brown teacher lecturing the students sound effect”.

He thought she was adorable, but just couldn’t take her seriously while holding a Capri Sun in the middle of a bar.

And Jessica, once she calmed down from her Boston based vocabulary lesson, realized the guy that she was yelling at was incredibly handsome.

And the rest as they say, is history.

That night they shared their first slow dance to Tennessee Whiskey, their first kiss, and their phone numbers…used for endless amounts of FaceTimes, phone calls, booking ALL of the flights (most of which were canceled or delayed) over the next 2 years.

Their long distance relationship spanned from Chicago to Boston, then Colorado to Chicago.
Until finally, our happy couple decided to date like normal people, and live in the same state, so Justin moved out to Colorado!

A pandemic, multiple jobs, Justin starting a business, 2 apartments, endless flights to see our families, hosting friends and our families for ski weekends, trips up Pikes Peak and a few “backpack Zac” walks later…Justin popped the question in the couple’s favorite hidden spot on Peak 6 at Breckenridge.

And she said, Yes 💍🥂