we can't wait to celebrate with you!

We met as classmates at the University of San Diego for our graduate leadership program. For a few semesters, we got to know each other in classes, group projects, and cohort hangs. There was a certain beach trip in March 2015 in which Jeff told his cousin that he thought Emily was cute, but that story has never been officially verified :) We both signed up to go on a study abroad trip to Sri Lanka in January 2016, and decided to go out to dinner in December 2015 to talk about the trip. A quick pizza and beer turned into 3 hours of talking, laughing, and connecting. Emily immediately told her best friends..."I think I just went on an accidental date!"

We traveled to Sri Lanka and spent 2 weeks in an intimate group setting - anyone whose traveled in a group knows how quickly it bonds you! We have countless memories from that trip of stargazing, going to an elephant sanctuary, climbing trees...Jeff napping whenever he sat down and Emily not sleeping for 48+ hours at a time. Most importantly, we had the chance to get to know some incredible people and to connect with the two of us on a deeper level. While Emily might have been a little clueless, Jeff initiated a conversation about what had sparked between us and on one of the last nights of the trip, we shared our first kiss. We weren't really sure where our feelings would lead us, but were grateful for how the trip brought us together.

We had the absolute best final semester at USD in Spring 2016. During this time, we got to go on a ton of dates, get to know each other's friends, and became partners. There was uncertainty post graduation, but when Jeff took a job in San Diego, and Emily in Santa Cruz, we committed to trying long distance. Long distance was not always easy but it made the time spent together feel even more special. We began to realize San Diego would be a good spot to continue our relationship in the same city, and Jeff was super supportive as Emily began the long job search to move down there. Finally in August 2019, after 3 full years of long distance, we got to go on weeknight dates again!

We cannot believe our luck that Emily moved just before COVID-19 hit. Although the last two years have been hard in so many ways, we are grateful to have spent so much time with each other and hold the joy of major relationship milestones like getting engaged! Jeff had planned a weekend for us in Joshua Tree National Park to propose. Unsurprisingly, Emily had a hunch this might be happening. We spent a magical day exploring Joshua Tree, and at sunset Jeff popped the question. What he didn't know is Emily also had a ring in her pocket and we got engaged together! We absolutely love our life together in San Diego and are so excited to move forward in our relationship. We are grounded by common values and a huge community of loved ones. Thank you for supporting our relationship for the past 6 years and wherever we go from here!