"How wonderful life is now you're in the world"

It all started with Pat Olsen's unrelenting insistence that we meet. He was convinced that we were perfect for each other. We were equally skeptical. Fortunately for Pat, he was right. Pat and Megan schemed for us to all go out together on a craft beer tour in the Quad Cities on New Year's Eve Eve. By the time we got to Front Street Brewery for dinner, Catherine started to think she may like Jack. Once they arrived at Great River Brewery, she was pretty sure Jack's unending nudges (literally) meant he liked her, too. That night we stayed up until 5 am talking and watching "The Twilight Zone". We celebrated the New Year surrounded by friends and stole a kiss when no one was looking. Sadly, by Sunday Catherine had to fly to Florida for work and Jack had to drive back to Tennessee. We decided we wanted to stay in touch even though we knew a long distance relationship would be tough. Now three years, hours of phone calls, thousands of texts, and hundreds of miles driven later here we are and we couldn't be happier. (We suppose we should say thanks Pat & Megan.)

THE SHORT STORY: Catherine's "spirit" animal is a fox and Jack's "spirit" animal is a bear. It just so happens that the two woodland creatures go together perfectly. THE LONG STORY: Throughout college, Catherine's friends always had a running joke about their "spirit" animals. Most of her friends knew exactly what type of animal they identified with - but it was always something she struggled to nail down. It wasn't until several years after graduation that Catherine realized how "fox-like" she could be after watching a documentary about dogs and domesticated foxes (having red hair by that time helped too). As much as she loves dogs, she couldn't help but identify with the foxes for their independence, intelligence, adaptability, and cleverness. Jack, on the other hand, has always known he's a bear. He enjoys his moments of solitude, is very introspective, is a protector, and is supportive. He can also be very grumpy if poked. Jokingly calling themselves the Bear and Fox started not long after they began dating when it came out during a conversation with Pat and Megan about spirit animals (Pat is a Labrador and Megan is a Deer). It seemed almost serendipitous that the two complement each other so well. And now they have their own illustrated story of how the Bear and the Fox met - done by the very talented Paris Woodhull in Knoxville, TN. Each picture from the series (see Photos tab) tells the story of their relationship. First meeting around New Year's (hence the fireworks), then going hiking in Maine for their first road trip together, followed by camping in the mountains after Catherine moved to Tennessee, and lastly settling in Knoxville together. You may notice the style of the illustrations are very similar to original drawings of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.