Jacob and Leah attended the same schools in Waseca and were in the same grade. While Jacob excelled in sports as the captain of the football and basketball teams, Leah excelled in the classroom. During high school, Jacob and Leah had a few classes together, but they never connected like they would in the future. Jacob was focused on sports, Xbox, and giving his mom many gray hairs by going out with friends every weekend. Leah, however, spent most of her time studying, baking, caring for her dogs and cats, and being the World’s Greatest Sister.

Despite their differences in high school, they both attended colleges in Duluth on scholarships. Jacob accepted a scholarship to play football for UMD, and Leah accepted an academic scholarship to study nursing at the College of Saint Scholastica. During their freshman year, Jacob reached out to Leah, and they chatted—but Leah already had a boyfriend. A couple years later, Jacob reached out again, but Leah ​still​ had a boyfriend. They finally began talking at the right time when Leah was graduating college. On her graduation day, Leah forgot to ask her family to help move her bed from her apartment to her new place, so she asked Jacob. He happily obliged, thinking he had a date, while Leah was just happy to have somewhere to sleep in her house. But over the next month, Jacob and Leah continued to spend time with each other, which eventually turned into real dates that included hiking, long walks, new restaurants, a beer or four, and flowers.

Jacob asked Leah to be his girlfriend in June of 2016, and they continued adventuring all summer long. Their little family grew by one when Leah adopted Cedric the Christmas Kitten, who quickly became the center of attention in their relationship. When the next year came around, Leah and Jacob decided they wanted to live together, so they did for three wonderful years. In that time, their little family grew by another fur baby when they adopted Maisy Minerva, the most adorable black cat.

On December 23, 2019, Jacob proposed to Leah. She said yes, along with some other words! The couple began searching for their first home, and they moved into the perfect one in February of 2020.

Jacob and Leah continue to write their story and are so happy to have you in it. They can’t wait to celebrate with you all on April 30, 2021!

I remember recognizing Jacob in elementary school. He was the tall boy whose second grade classroom was across the hall from mine. In third grade, I was worried about learning how to keep up in Phy. Ed., square dancing with the tall boy who was double my height. Jacob says he remembers me as the girl who always had a book in her hands.

We each had our own group of friends while we grew up in Waseca, and our families lived on different sides of town. But even though we didn’t know each other very well, we definitely remembered each other. Years after we graduated high school together, Jacob reached out just before my college graduation. He was completing a Bachelors in Secondary Education at UMD, and I was finishing my Bachelors of Nursing at St. Scholastica. It was so easy talking with someone from the same hometown who had also fallen in love with beautiful Duluth, Minnesota.
When my graduation day finally came, I had the bright idea of moving right before the ceremony. My family came to celebrate, but after they left, I realized I still needed help moving my mattress. So I asked Jacob. And while I thought I was trading moving help with a beer, it turned out to be our first date!

Fast forward through three years of Mario Kart tournaments, spending time with our families, moving in together, beginning our careers, and adding Cedric and Maisy to our little family, I started to drop a couple (or ten) hints.
Jacob proposed December 23rd, 2019, and I said “Yes!” along with a couple other words...

We cannot wait to celebrate our wedding with our family and friends April 30th, 2021!