Depending on how much you believe in fate and universal order, one could argue our journey started when Justin was born into a family line of Land Surveyors and when Adeline’s parents decided to move into a house that was kitty-corner to the Tillotsons, also a land surveyor family that became dear friends. Fresh out of college, Adeline decided to reach out to Tilly (Tillotson) to see if they had an opening at F3 & Associates. Thankfully, he did! Justin, on the other hand, had already been working at F3 for a number of years and was considered the go-to Party Chief for Tilly. Tilly introduced us in the office as teammates, and that is how we met! We worked together for a number of years, developing a respect and friendship with each other that included inside jokes, shared frustrations with work challenges, and stories of our dogs. In the thick of COVID, Adeline had to change jobs to make sure her fur baby, Cassie, was taken care of. Part of taking care of Cassie included socializing her since she was not only a PARVO puppy, but also a pandemic puppy that had several unfortunate encounters at a not-so-friendly dog park. Thankfully, Adeline was already aware of Justin’s one-of-a-kind, friendly bulldog, Buddy. She reached out to see if Cassie and Buddy could meet, and Justin graciously said yes. While Buddy and Cassie were getting to know each other, Justin and Adeline also started to talk and get to know each other on a more personal level. One thing led to another, and things just seemed to take their right and natural course from there. We still attribute a lot of that early momentum to our dogs, which is why we wanted to honor Buddy’s memory with a donation to local animal shelters as part of our marriage celebration.

Justin started with a traditional approach and kept all his planning a surprise. That is, until he started learning about different styles, the price tags, and finally, that blood diamonds exist. At that point, he admitted to Adeline that it felt wrong to make such a big choice about her, without her, and would rather do this together, just like they do everything else. Adeline wholeheartedly agreed! They went ring shopping together to get a feel for what they like, dodging all the judgmental salespeople so we could get something honest and unique from a friend's family business in town. After Justin got a feel for what Adeline’s style was, they called it a day, and the rest was left up to Justin. Several months later, Adeline had been sitting on the ring she purchased for Justin, and was thinking of all the ways she could propose to Justin, eventually resorting to thinking of different businesses she could start as a distraction. She was eager to say the least. Justin was holding onto her ring, trying to wait long enough for it to be a surprise, and to find the right time so that it wasn’t overshadowed by all the other big things happening in their lives. He wanted it to be perfect, to say the least. One fine gardening day, they were shoveling gravel around the yard together. Covered in dirt and sweat, listening to Led Zeppelin and enjoying some cold Coronas. This is our zone, our home base, our happy place. This was the time to propose. Right before they finished the project for the day, Justin started talking about how proud he is of everything we have built together and how he’s looking forward to doing these kinds of projects together for the rest of our lives. Adeline immediately stopped raking and looked at him, wondering if this is what she thinks it is... Justin aborted the landing, walked right by her to stall until she stopped looking at him. She went back to raking, and Justin circled behind her to pop the question and stick the landing. She turned around to find him down on one knee, dropped the rake, and said yes!!! After the initial tears, hollers, and jumps of joy, they cleaned up so they could watch the sunset and go out to sushi to celebrate just the two of them. Even though Adeline had a thousand plans for how she wanted to propose, after Justin popped the question, she decided she wanted to ask him on the same day. She packed a blanket and a bottle of their favorite wine, and while they were watching the sunset, she popped the question back, and he said yes. Sushi that night was joined by not one, but two new shiny pieces of jewelry, and a pair of newly committed partners with a big, fun party to plan.