Alli and Jeff met in 2017 at a United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) Area Meeting when they were seated at the same "cluster" table that grouped schools by geography. They were both first-time union representatives at their schools. It turned out that Alli taught at Strathern Street Elementary School, just a bit more than a half mile from Polytechnic High School where Jeff taught. In the months before the 2019 strike, educators from nearby schools were encouraged to work together. UTLA Area Meetings are not anyone's idea of "fun," but Jeff began looking forward to them if Alli would be there. In the lead up to the strike, they began texting about logistics, which then led to flirting after the strike wrapped up. They agreed to meet up for a drink at Salsa and Beer on Sherman Way to celebrate the triumphant strike. When Jeff arrived, Alli's co-chair Katie and colleague Claudia were seated on one side of the booth, leaving a seat for Jeff next to Alli. The four shared a round of margaritas. Alli ordered a second, and Jeff followed suit. Once the drink orders were in, Claudia and Katie strategically and abruptly excused themselves to go home to their husbands. Alli and Jeff sat side by side, sharing details about their families, travels, and experiences, and ended up holding hands as they talked. In a mystery that persists to this day, neither can remember who initiated that. The restaurant finally kicked them out after closing. They still choose to sit side by side every time they go out to dinner. They immediately planned an actual first date. Two days later, at a coffee date, Alli asked Jeff to be her plus one for the wedding of her friend Cris and his bride (also Allison). Jeff agreed and then asked her to a formal dinner for Valentine's Day at the Odyssey. Within days, it felt that they'd known each for years. Road trips followed, to Solvang, Cambria, and Santa Maria. They met up in Paris when Jeff was chaperoning a student trip and Alli was on the way back from visiting her sister Christin in Norway. Soon Alli was spending half of her time at Jeff's house, especially when the pandemic hit. A social-distanced vacation in a cabin led to their discovery of Idyllwild, and then subsequent vacations to Palm Springs and Temecula, where they became members of the Leoness Vineyard. Before they knew it, Jeff's mother Donna was asking them if they'd considered marriage. Now they were! On a trip to Leoness, they noticed a big yellow house on the next rise, which turned out to be a wedding venue. On a lark, they decided to tour it, and quickly figured out that they already knew what kind of wedding they'd like to have, even though they weren't even engaged. They looked at several other venues, but it wasn't until December 2023 that they found the Jewel of Ortega in San Juan Capistrano and knew that was where they wanted to marry. Jeff just had to get around to proposing. He'd had the ring for nearly two months, but hadn't found the right moment. He knew Alli didn't want a public place filled with strangers, but the perfect private setting just hadn't presented itself. It was on Christmas night, cozying up together in front of the fire on the couch in their living room, that Jeff knew this was that private moment in a space they both cherished. He pivoted off the couch onto his knee and produced the ring (Alli still doesn't know from where), and made the proposal. Incredibly, the whole thing was captured on video on the room camera they had installed to monitor their dog Booker during the day! They took their time planning the wedding and chose a date that wouldn't conflict with the graduation of Jeff's son, Logan. They are thrilled that the day is almost here.