John first met Laney at the ever so romantic Lake of the Ozarks. The couple was introduced by the one and only Morgyn Schieber. Morgyn knew John from their time at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, and Laney knew Morgyn from their University of Missouri Sorority, Tri Delta. John quickly became infatuated with Laney and had every intention of reaching out after the trip to keep the conversation going. Unfortunately for John, he dropped his phone in the lake that weekend, thus losing her number and the ability to send and receive texts. Thinking quickly, John again leaned on Morgyn for the lovely Laney's phone number and sent her a message using his Mac. When Laney received a text from headmuffin23@gmail.com (ask John's sisters where that nick-name came from because John has no clue), she was understandably confused. But after learning it was "John, the Pike that laughed at you thinking 'Malaney' wasn't a real name from the Ozarks trip" she went along with the courtship. The "courtship" (basically John trying his absolute hardest for Laney to see him as more than a friend) lasted about a year until she finally agreed to a formal relationship. Their relationship lasted all through the rest of their time at Mizzou. Go Tigers.

After college, John and Laney decided to try their hand at long distance. Laney went to work for a commercial real estate company in Chicago and John moved to Dallas to pursue a career in commercial insurance. The couple agrees, the two years apart were some of the hardest they've endured. The long two years came to an end in the summer of 2021 when John had successfully persuaded Laney to move to Dallas, surrounded by countless friends.

While on a ski trip to Winter Park in February of 2023, John finally summoned the courage to ask Laney a question he had thought about from the moment they met. Laney said the most beautiful word in the English language "yes" and just like that, the unlikely couple who met at a run down resort in the Ozarks were engaged. Upon returning to their Dallas apartment, the couple told their 1 year old charcoal lab, Dutton, the good news and he was overjoyed.