Like any good millennial couple, we met on a dating app (Bumble). Heather swiped right because Jay also went to school in New Hampshire, seemed outdoorsy, and had a dog; Jay doesn't remember swiping. We soon set a date for a Thursday evening at a dive bar in Washington, D.C. aptly named Jackpot. Heather, refusing to skip her gym class, was a little late and had completely forgotten everything she and Jay had chatted about. Jay remembers thinking that this would be our only date because Heather was "way out of his league." We ate popcorn and ordered three beers, and we both felt this was something special (for evidence, see the texts Heather sent to her friend from the bathroom). We shared a brief kiss outside of the Gallery Place metro stop before finally heading home, smiling.

Jay had been trying to plan the perfect proposal for months, even enlisting the help of our good friends Gina and Cirilo. The secrecy of this planning was immediately upended when Heather coincidentally walked by the bar where we were meeting and confronted us, demanding to know why she was not invited to hang out. Fortunately, all was not ruined. Jay was able to orchestrate a tour of his office in the U.S. Capitol for Heather and his friend Matt who was "in town on business" (Heather believed this ruse for way too long). Jay eventually led Heather out onto the Speaker's Balcony overlooking the National Mall and knelt down on one knee. Heather blacked out (but she did say yes). Luckily, Matt was there to document the occasion. Because they bought the ring together three months earlier, Jay felt like the proposal was not enough of a surprise and secretly organized a party with our friends at Right Proper Brewery near our house in Shaw. We partied all night and also got to celebrate the final call that Democrats won control of the Senate (video available upon request).