We're getting married!

Two kids from the Midwest fell in love and started building a life together... just another typical love story, right? From afar it may look that way but our story more closely resembles the plot of a Hallmark movie, as much as Jake resents admitting it. We spent our entire childhood living 15 minutes apart, Jake in Lake Villa/Antioch and Taylor in Trevor. Although only a short drive through a few small towns away, we had no idea each other existed. Here's where things get interesting, hold on tight. After graduating high school, Taylor & Bear packed up their things and moved half way across the country to North Carolina where she attended, and ultimately completed nursing school. In the summer of 2022 Taylor and Bear packed up once again and relocated their things to Spring, TX, a northern suburb of Houston. Jake's experience is similar yet unique in its own sense. In the summer of 2021, looking for a change of scenery, Jake packed his things and moved to Orlando, FL and rented a place with his Best Man, Steven. A year and a half later, Jake's project wrapped up and his company asked if he'd like to be a traveling employee to experience work in a different market, which he accepted. In the fall of 2022, Jake and Steven frantically scrambled to pack their things, load up a U-Haul and get out of town to escape an incoming hurricane. The 1200 mile trek eventually landed them in, you guessed it, Spring, TX. After striking out with traditional dating methods, we resorted to dating apps in an attempt to find our better half. What drew us towards each other were the goofy pictures on our Tinder profiles. In hind sight, this was a perfect representation of our personalities and our relationship. For Jake, a picture of Taylor in a pickle costume struck his interest. For Taylor, it was Jake shouldering his sister's dog (nicknamed "Bazooka Chlo") that really sealed the deal. Conversations started immediately, seeking clarity on the stories behind our pictures. Almost a week elapsed before the topic of where we're from surfaced, by then a connection had already been formed. Both hesitant of the coincidence, we exchanged questions determined to unravel the uncanny realization that we were 1200 miles from where we grew up yet we were still only 15 minutes away from each other. The familiarity that ensued from our conversations led to a first date (which Taylor was 20 minutes late to). Sitting bellied up at the Gringo's bar drinking margaritas and depleting their reserves of chips and salsa felt like reconnecting with a long lost friend rather than a first date. Our relationship unofficially officially began (Jake never actually asked Taylor to be his girlfriend, she just started calling him her boyfriend and he didn't correct her) on 4/8/23 when we took a camping trip in Austin, TX. The first year of our relationship was action packed, meeting each other's families, friends, pets, taking trips, making memories, and plotting ways to steal cows from the Houston rodeo. In April of 2024, we finally moved in together. However, guided by a desire to be closer to family, we decided to move back to Trevor, WI to begin our journey living together. It only took a month for Taylor to convince Jake to get another dog. In May, we added our sweet little baby (not so little) Buck to our family. On November 3, 2024, to Taylor's surprise (and nobody else's, everyone else knew), Jake organized a "family picture" photo shoot where he proposed and we were officially engaged! We're so grateful to be surrounded by our friends, family, fur babies (& Gracie-bitches and Chlo-bitches) and can't wait to continue our lives together as Husband and Wife!