Nate insists on telling this story, so we’ll let him have the floor… “One day I was just out here sending DMs—‘hey,’ ‘how are you,’ ‘what’s going on,’ ‘how ya doin’—really casting a wide net. And then… Jess responded. Hook, line, and sinker. The rest? History.” All jokes aside, it really did feel like divine intervention was at play. At the time, Jess was living in Boston and Nate was in Wind Gap—so realistically, our paths probably wouldn’t have crossed if it weren’t for our shared love of fitness (and Nate’s elite DM strategy). We originally planned to meet in Boston for our first date, but Jess had her doubts—so she bailed (no regrets 😅). Nate, ever the gentleman, suggested meeting closer to home on Jess’s turf in New Jersey instead. Bold move, and it paid off. Our first date? A gym session at Crunch followed by lunch… because nothing says romance like sweating first and eating second. Classic. Even with the distance, we made it a priority to see each other about once a month. One of our favorite memories was a trip to Nate’s family beach house in Ocean City, Maryland—where, in July 2023, Nate asked Jess to be his girlfriend. That trip sealed the deal. Fast forward to October 2025, Nate brought things full circle and proposed in the very same place. Safe to say… that DM worked out pretty well 💛