Unbeknownst to them, Jess and Ellen decided their freshman year that they would head to the Gonzaga freshman retreat for the weekend. It was November of 2004. They ended up in the same small group and found many commonalities between them (i.e., terrible freshman roommates, stuck in an all girls dorm instead of the "cool dorm", and that they came from large families). They got to know each other that weekend and found out that they lived one floor apart in their dorm building. When their respective roommates would lock one of them out of their rooms, they would meet up in the hallway to hang out. If one of them had to run an errand, the other would come too. They quickly became best friends, going to the gym together, eating meals at the cafeteria together, studying together...after a few months, Valentine's Day was approaching. Ellen had begun to realize that this was more than just friendship, so she made the move. Jess received a love note with a box of conversation hearts professing her love for Jessica. The feeling was mutual and the rest is history.