We’re Making it Official!

About Jade: Jade, along with her twin sister Amber were born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Jade grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for most of her childhood. She is an avid film buff and writer. She enjoys being creative by writing scripts and screenplays in her spare time. Jade also enjoys drawing and sketching in her sketchbook. Jade attended college at the University of North Texas, where she graduated with a BA in Film Studies with a minor in English. Shortly after she graduated college in 2018, her father was relocated to Denver for work. After Jade and her family moved to the Denver area, she started looking for work in the media/marketing industry. Afterwhile, Jade decided to change her focus to IT as she was not having much luck finding work in the media/marketing field. Jade currently works from home as an Service Desk Engineer at a New York City based company called IPsoft, where she enjoys helping people solve their technical problems. About Stephen: Stephen, along with his brother Connor and his sister Sarah, spent their childhoods growing up in Denver, Colorado. He loves everything aviation and since childhood has always had his head in the clouds, looking at airplanes fly by. Along with travelling around when he can, Stephen also enjoys observing the weather and seeing mother natures fury. Stephen graduated from Westminster College-Salt Lake City, Utah in 2018 with a BS in Aviation Management, minoring in Professional Flight Operations. He is a licensed multi-engine commercial pilot, who flew professionally as a Frist Officer for a couple of years before the Covid-19 pandemic reared its ugly head. After the airline industry was decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic, Stephen decided it was best to shift his career focus to aviation safety. He now works as a Senior Operations Control Specialist for Air Methods, which one of the biggest rotor wing air ambulance air carriers in the country. Stephen enjoys his job in analyzing risk factors and ensuing that pilots are operating and transporting patients to medical care safely everyday.

Our story began by meeting online. The both of us never really found success meeting others in the traditional sense as more and more people were gravitating to the online dating world. We were both quite skeptical of meeting people online as we were aware of the many horror stories of catfishing and other potential oddities that came with dating online. Despite both of us being skeptical, we both gave online dating a try and eventually meet on a dating app called OkCupid in September of 2019.

After chatting online for awhile and confirming to each other that they didn't belong to the lowest common denominator of the internet dating world, they went on their first date and meet at a fun center. Stephen and Jade spent a lovely afternoon bowling, playing minigolf, and driving go-carts. They enjoyed each others company so much that they didn't want to end the date there, and proceeded to get to know each other more over dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant near by. At the end of the date, they both proceeded to their cars where they shared their first kiss in the restaurant parking lot. As they said bye to each other for the night, Stephen proceeded to further show his appreciation for an amazing first date by accidently slamming his car door into Jades car. Jade found the gawkish incident adorable. Stephen and Jade continued to enjoy each others company and went on many more dates together. It was just a couple of months into the relationship when they decided to go up to the foothills above Boulder to go hiking. They hiked a trail that led to the top of one of the foothills, that gave a good view of Boulder Valley. Jade being raised in the south didn't have much experience with the more strenuous, higher altitude outdoor environments and started to struggle as they got closer to the top. It was near the summit when Jade started to throw up from what was most likely dehydration and altitude sickness. She not only felt horrible but also super embarrassed about doing it in front of Stephen. He held her hair back anyways near the summit and helped her down the hill. It was at the end of that date when Stephen professed his love for Jade and knew that this relationship could go the distance.

When we meet in the fall of 2019, we were oblivious to what lied ahead when life as we knew it changed forever. 2020 was the infamous year when lives were upended by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our relationship was no exception, and was truly put through the wringer at times. The both of us were still living with our families when the pandemic hit. Before, we would normally go over and see each other a couple times a week. Every time we saw each other, we were growing closer and falling more in love with each other. When officials around the country were telling all of us to stay home and lock down due to the pandemic, we didn't really know how to respond at first. While many may not agree with us, we both felt that the type of restrictions they imposed were completely unnecessary and were a result of unhinged media sensationalism and fear mongering. Both of our families had differing attitudes when it came to us seeing each other in person. One of our families did not see it as a big deal, while the other found it better to stay home and not see each other. At first, we decided to consider those in the family who were uncomfortable and stayed home. We started going on dates over video chat back and fourth for several weeks. After awhile, not physically seeing each other was taking its toll. The not seeing each other in person resulted in conflict between us that nearly tore us apart. We both came to the conclusion that we had to drum up the courage to confront the family. We needed to stand up for what we both believed in all along. We had to tell some of our family members that we will no longer comply with these draconian measures and that we will be seeing each other in person, weather they liked it or not. This was not easy to do by any means. While we started seeing each other in person again, we still had to be creative as most places were still shutdown. It was a matter of going back to the basics. One of our favorite past times was just going for walks in the park, holding hands, and talking. We did this often during the lockdowns and we spent a lot of time talking, listening and learning to really understand each other. We realized more then ever just how important physical touch in our relationship was. The simple act of holding hands and embracing your partner is more powerful then people realize. In the end, the pandemic made us a stronger couple and helped our relationship grow.

January last year we both went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for some much needed change of scenery and R&R. This was also the place where I planed to propose to Jade. It was golden hour in the evening and we were famished after we both enjoyed a super relaxing day at the spa. All Jade knew was that I had a special dinner planned for us on the beach. We were walking towards the beach when Jade saw a sign at the beach entrance that said that the beach was closed for a private event. With Jade confused, I continued walking her down a path of rose pedals on the sand where at the end of the path I asked my now beautiful fiancé to be my wife. Jade responded to my proposal with an emotional "Hell yeah I will! "