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Jack met Jacqui first week of freshman year at Georgia Tech, but Jacqui has forgotten. Jacqui met Jack in the hallway when she was rapping Drake and Jack walked by and finally caught her eye. Now we just say "Freshman year at Georgia Tech!"

Jack proposed on July 31, 2020 in Narragansett, RI. It was the summer of COVID but we were fortunate to find ourselves able to travel to Rhode Island for a few weeks that year. Jack had staged a "family photo shoot" requested by his mom that would take place at the neighborhood beach. After a few family photos there, we were all headed to downtown Narragansett to get pictures at the main beach when Jack received a call that his mom wanted to pivot to getting photos at the neighborhood point (a rocky area along the ocean that's only accessible to those who live in the neighborhood). When we get to the point, Ben & Calvin (who were riding in our car) run away to go "catch a Pokemon". Just Jack and I walk through the bushes down the path to the ocean where a blanket is setup with flowers and a speaker playing "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver (one of our favorite songs from freshman year of college). After I said YES! the entire DiPrete crew came out of hiding in the rocks where we enjoyed a champagne-filled celebration and ended the night with a traditional clambake back at the beach house ♥️

Jack is truly my soulmate in all the most cliche ways and after 9 years of dating, I can honestly say I love him more and more each day. Some examples: (1) He ALWAYS knows what I'm going to say or what I'm thinking (...it's been 9 years and it still astonishes me every time he's able to predict what I'm about to say). It's rare to have someone who knows and understands you so wholly. (2) He keeps me grounded and reminds me what is important in life and what's not worth the stress (one night I was stressed about getting photos for our save the dates and to calm me down he walked me over to our refrigerator (where we keep all of those that have been sent to us) and helped show me that all the small things I was stressing about didn't hold any weight) (3) He continues to challenge me to enjoy life and be the best version of myself (on our recent trip to Kauai we hiked 4 grueling miles to get to a waterfall and when we got there I got in the water to swim under it and had a small panic attack - Jack swam back over to me and encouraged me (despite all efforts to decline) to swim under the falls since it was the whole reason we'd come! He stayed right by my side and took the long way around just to make sure I got to enjoy the full experience). (4) He figuratively and literally climbs mountains for me - for any of you that have skied/snowboarded with Jack, you know he's the peacemaker, always making sure everyone is having a good time and getting down the mountain safely. There are too many instances to count of times he's hiked up ski slopes to come wipe away my frozen tears and helped provide the support I needed to conquer my fears and make it down. (5) So if that wasn't enough, lastly he's the most smart, genuine, kind-hearted, gentle, forgiving and amazing person ever!

For anyone who’s seen a glimpse of our relationship, it’s clear to them just how much of a “Jacquipot” I have hit. Obviously there’s all the “standard” things that we all know Jacqui does such as generally keeping me alive and my life functioning (it’s been said I should take more responsibility for myself), but the impact that Jacqui has had on my life, as one would expect, goes so much deeper than that. Jacqui and I have had the chance to grow up with each other over the better part of the past decade, and in those years, I’ve been lucky enough to witness first-hand how incredible of a person Jacqui truly is, whether directed at me or those around her. Jacqui keeps me adventurous, not being complacent in life whether with personal experiences, career, or keeping the apartment decorated :) Jacqui is the life of the party, and I know she’ll keep me going and off the couch (which can be so comfortable…) for decades to come. Jacqui cares deeply for those around her, thoughtful of what her friends and family are going through in their various phases of life, taking time to be there when it counts, and I’m so lucky to have this in my life. Jacqui puts all of herself into everything that she does. She wears her heart on her sleeve, which is incredibly refreshing and such a positive influence for how to live my life. Jacqui puts her best foot forward every time and brings the same out in those around her. And well, you know, I never realized I had such good feet until I met her. And, as I’ve told her time and again, she’s just nice. If it wasn’t for Jacqui, I wouldn’t know every lyric to every Taylor Swift song there is (although I wouldn’t necessarily qualify this as a “Jacquipot” characteristic…). If it wasn’t for Jacqui, I wouldn’t have unlimited access to a Michelin star restaurant just a short walk from the bed. And if it wasn’t for Jacqui, I wouldn’t have the best of friends to live life with. And that’s all I can fit with 2000 characters.

Living life :) We do pretty much everything together that doesn’t involve work so we’ve had an ever-changing amount of favorite activities over the past 9 years. Some favorites include listening to music (we can remember seasons of our lives in many cases by the music/genre we enjoyed at the time), drinking good (~third wave only~) coffee (this is a recent upgrade from our cookie crumble Starbucks frappes in college), traveling (we’ve been to over 12 countries together), spending time with friends/family, skiing, reading (though our taste in books is quite different), biking around San Francisco, and learning guitar (Jack plays, Jacqui listens)

Retire from our 9-5 and own a (third wave) coffee shop by-day, wine/cocktail bar by-night