We met where most 30-somethings meet in this day and age… the internet. We were looking for love on multiple dating apps and Hinge ended up being the winner. Although we both lived outside of each others dating radius, a chance trip south brought Andrew close enough to Jess to let the dating app algorithm work its magic. Several days of text conversations turned into nightly 6-hour phone calls which culminated in our first in-person meeting on September 10, 2022. We decided to meet on neutral ground in Youngstown, OH and shared several laughs and deep conversation over Barry Dingles BBQ. Neither of us were ready to part at the end of dinner so we relocated to a brewery and spent hours talking into the night. Not wanting the evening to end, and excited to see where this connection may lead, we made plans to meet just a few days later. Over the following weeks, we got to know the Canton/Youngstown areas (and each other) very well and knew almost instantly this was going somewhere.

When Andrew felt the time was right (after several hints from Jess), he decided to ask Jess to be his wife on a Sunday afternoon in a field of wildflowers. Jess had been badgering him for weeks to go to the wildflower field to pick some flowers and get some Instagram-worthy pictures. Andrew decided this was the perfect opportunity to pop the question. He acted as if he dropped his cellphone and bent down to pick it up. Just as Jess thought she was going to need to rescue him from rolling down the hill, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red box containing a beautiful emerald ring. We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you in Mingo jct!