Shortly after Elyse graduated from PA school at King's College she became a Teaching Assistant for the PA program. Elyse's friend, Bailey, who was a graduate PA student at the time played the match-maker! She knew J.R. from Penn State and was dating J.R's best friend and former teammate, Matt. Bailey thought Elyse would really hit it off with her friend J.R. and quickly arranged a time for the future couple to meet before Bailey and Matt returned to California for the rest of the summer. Elyse and J.R. both still joke that they only agreed to the set up because "What did they have to lose?" A few days later on August 1, 2015, J.R. and Elyse went on their first date "official" at The State Street Grill and the rest was history.

Both J.R and Elyse are Parrotheads! They try to see their favorite singer, Jimmy Buffett, each year at their favorite venue, Jones Beach on Long Island, NY. Elyse has always joked since long before knowing J.R. that the concert was her favorite day of the year. However, after 6 years of attending these shows together, this concert became a highly anticipated event for the couple each year. At the most recent show, Elyse and J.R were having a great afternoon tailgating and playing some of their favorite Jimmy Buffett songs from deep within his archives. J.R. suggested they take a walk down to beach and after some convincing, Elyse agreed. JR, with celebratory champagne secretly in his backpack, had big plans for that day. As they sat on the beach together, JR played Elyse's favorite song and then asked her to marry him! They spent the rest of the day celebrating and were even upgraded to the front row of the concert that night. J.R made Elyse's favorite day of the year the best day every and it was a concert the couple would NEVER forget!