April 23, 2021 was the day that changed Jake and Tammara's lives forever! Tammara had just returned to St. Louis to start her second travel nurse assignment when she decided to download Bumble. Tammara was no stranger to dating apps, but this time was different. To dodge the bullet of awkward first conversations with people that would ultimately go nowhere, she decided to pay the $5.99 to see who had already liked her profile. If you ask her today, she'd tell you that was THE BEST $5.99 she's ever spent. This is where she discovered Jake's profile. His sweet innocent smile (so she thought...lol), proud BLM ally, love for GOD, and interest in D&D all caught her attention. To get the conversation started she asked "What's D&D?" and the rest was history. Jake took over the conversation and quickly took his shot by asking her out on a date.

On April 23rd, Jake and Tammara had their first date at Mission Taco, followed by games at Up Down. Their date lasted until 1 o'clock in the morning. They spent hours talking about everything under the sun, from favorite things to do, to racial relations in St. Louis, to what they dreamed of for the future. It was during this conversation that Jake realized that Tammara was different.

Over the next few weeks following their first date, Jake pulled out all the bells and whistles to impress Tammara. From fancy dates, to three course homemade meals, and even getting up at 3 am to take her to the airport for her birthday celebration in Miami. Jake knew in order to get the girl, he'd have to do something he'd never done before. Through LOTS of patience, determination, prayer, and being intentional; they made their relationship official on May 23, 2021.

For them to stay together and explore what could be, Tammara continued to renew her contracts in St. Louis, leaving for only one 13 week contract back in Georgia. When she returned February of 2022 to St. Louis times were tense between the couple. Despite the tension they were experiencing due to two different worlds colliding, they both felt this internal conviction from GOD to push through. And that's exactly what they did! With Christ being the center of their relationship, they grew together.

The Lord opened up doors for Tammara to land her dream job and for her to relocate. During this time, Jake graduated grad school and landed his first job as a Provisionally Licensed Professional Counselor.

With his degree under his belt and his career being underway, Jake was ready to propose to Tammara and make her his wife. Tammara was his new dream. Outside of GOD, she was the most important thing to him. The "why" behind the things he did. She motivated him to be the best version of himself.

And on May 27, 2023, with sweaty hands and thoughts going a mile a minute, Jake did what he had dreamt about doing since he was in grade school. He got down on one knee and proposed to the love of his life. And without hesitation, Tammara said yes!