We met when we were 19 at a party & instantly hit it off after talking about our cars the entire night.

Months later, I was coming to have lunch with my dad at work, and when I walked in, Jake was sitting at a work bench across from my dad. I was shocked to see him there since we hadn't ever really expected to see each other again. I said hello, and instantly my dad asked how I knew the "new apprentice". Knowing we met at a party, I aggressively looked Jake in the eyes and said "oh just through mutual friends." Lol I didn't want the truth to come out!

Over several years, Jake and I exchanged little "hello's" & "How've you been's" every time I visited my dad on Wednesday lunches. Sadly though, we lost touch after my dad retired.

Fast forward to 2022, my dad was randomly asking me about Jake, so I decided to message him. We casually talked for about a month and finally one night, I felt like calling him. We were on the phone for nearly 6 hours! For anyone that knows me, I'm sure you're not surprised that I could talk that long lol but for Jake it seemed unusual since he was always so quiet!
We instantly clicked and laughed the entire time! The next night, we called each other again, and this time Jake mustered up the courage to ask me to dinner the following night.

We had our first date at Monterrey Mexican grill and coincidentally they were hosting music bingo - we had a blast & Jake even won the first round! With his winnings (a fat $5 gift card) he instantly suggested we get celebratory margaritas with his winnings, so we did :)
We shut the place down, and sat in his car talking until the staff started to leave lol- we loved talking to each other - we really related on different levels and saw things the same way and had so many shared interests. It was crazy! However- all night Jake kept asking me if my dad was ok with us going out - he wanted to be sure there was no disrespect by going out with me. So I said, if you're so worried about it, we can call him right now! Against his wishes, I called my dad right up! I said dad, I'm out with Jake and he's concerned you're not ok with him taking me on a date. He laughed and said "I don't care - I'm more worried about JAKE! So you better be nice to him! " lol. Over the next few days we were inseparable or as my dad would constantly say "OBSESSED".

Jake soon asked me if we should be exclusive and without hesitation I said yes, of course! That weekend, we took a spontaneous trip to Grand Rapids to go to a Brooks & Dunn concert. We had the best time, and I think that weekend we kind of knew something was very special about our bond. A few weeks later, I suggested we take a camping trip together in July. (It was a test) I wanted to see if we could handle camping together for a week without killing each other. I also needed to know if he could handle driving across the Mackinac bridge - because hell no I wasn't doing it! Lol

Our trip was perfect and really solidified that we were falling in love 🥰 soon after, Jake started squatting at my house and never left. We soon started discussing our future plans, dreams, and what we wanted in life and everything just fell into place. We purchased our dream house together, and on the way to closing, Jake grabbed my hand and told me "Just so you know, I was going to buy you a ring, but we found our house. I want to marry you, and I will, but are you ok with waiting a little longer?" Of course I said yes, and trusted his promise.

7 months later, Jake planned the perfect engagement date. He told me he was taking me out to dinner to celebrate me on getting a new job, little did I know he had other plans.

Jake took me to dinner downtown at Fat Bird where they serve dinner on mismatched vintage plates- I had been wanting to go there, and he remembered that! After dinner, I thought we were going to look at Christmas lights. As he led me down the sidewalk in front of the Morris, he starts to lead me into the building - I was really confused what we were doing there. Jake then tells me he had tickets for us to see the Christmas special with the South Bend Symphony, something I told him a while back that I used to love going to with my grandma when I was younger. He got us the most amazing box seats right up front, handed me a glass of wine and told me to enjoy. It was a beautiful performance and evening together. On the way out of the Morris, I had asked if we could take a picture down by the fountain that was decorated with giant Christmas ornaments and green & red lights. It was so pretty!

Jake was kind of acting funny, basically pulling me down the steps and turning me towards the building telling me to look at it (lol) he said he was going to take my picture and when I turned to hand him my umbrella, he was down on one knee, in the rain, with the biggest smile on his face.
The perfect proposal ! I was so surprised and first asked him ARE YOU SURE?! 🤣 then I quickly said YES!
Little did I know, Jake had this all planned out, the place, the location (he scoped out the park the day before and drew himself a map 🤣 and even organized a secret, hidden photographer Molly! (Who I earlier saw all bundled up, standing the in the rain without an umbrella, thinking she was some weird downtown pigeon lady in the park, not even recognizing her lol)

Now, here comes the fun part! We get to celebrate with all of our people and we couldn't be happier and more excited to see you all. 💕