Our story starts with our friends, because they saw us getting together long before we did. Two of our friends tried to set us up during our sophomore year in college - even throwing a small party for the sole purpose of introducing us. The timing that night wasn't right (read: Brooke had one too many drinks), and we'd have to wait another few years before it was. During February of our senior year, we had a huge snowstorm and school was closed for days. Brooke and her roommates threw a "snow party" on February 13th, which happened to be the night before Jacob's birthday. This time, two *different* friends conspired to set us up. At one point, Jacob planned to head out but they refused to let him - saying that he needed to stay and talk to Brooke first. (Shout out to Abby and Aysha; we appreciate your hard work and determination that night). As we counted down to midnight, everyone sang happy birthday to Jacob and helped him ring in another year. He did end up staying and we did end up talking. It turns out our friends were right, and we haven't stopped talking since.

In 2018, we took an action-packed trip to Southern California and Jacob brought a tiny stowaway in his pocket. We spent a few days hiking around Joshua Tree National Park, and on one particular hike with panoramic views, Jacob got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and popped the question. Brooke remembers blacking out a little, smiling a lot, and saying yes (of course)! Over the past six years, we've enjoyed many adventures together. We dated long distance between Virginia and Spain, lived together in two states and three cities, adopted a sweet dog named Moby, road tripped around the U.S., traveled to five countries, and celebrated Jacob getting his master's degree. Our time together has flown by, and we're so happy it's time to get married and celebrate with all of our family and friends!