Nose to Nose They met on what most would consider a typical Seattle day at the offices of KPMG and soon after found they clicked. Jaclyn invited Joel along to the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay golf course, which ended up being what they considered their first date as things took off from there. Puppy Love Oh dating!...They certainly took their time with dating. They had been together for about three and a half years before Joel finally popped the question. Though it may seem long to some, those years were certainly sweet. They filled those years with Huskies football, video games (Joel knew he had a keeper when Jaclyn debuted her Mario Kart skills), house remodelling, hikes, traveling with friends and family, and a bit of Hogwarts sprinkled in for good measure.

During their time dating, Joel learned the following about Jaclyn: Quite the repertoire of hidden skills: Not only can she DOMINATE on the Mario Kart track, but she's also a skilled pianist, a former Miss Spokane Valley contestant, a Washington Scholar award winner, a dedicated bedazzler, mini-golf hustler, and master of the instant-pot. Perfectly paired travel partner: Her travel style is similar to Joel's where she's happy in a tropical climate and immersing herself with the local nature adventures. She's coordinated adventures for them to see whales in Hawaii, ride and kiss camels in Mexico, and swim with dolphins in Miami. She's also convinced him to jump out of a plane...twice! She’s all around adorable: From her everyday style that leans towards a black theme & her dozens (not quite, but close) of North Face jackets to choose from, her lattes that she only drinks one third of, her hair that has a gorgeous wave to it that she so painstakingly straightens each morning, and her beauty marks, Joel is just smitten with her.

During their time dating, Jaclyn learned the following about Joel: Enjoys cooking for her: Joel enjoys making any meal for Jaclyn, as long as it leans towards unhealthy and has the potential to fill the house with smoke. Jaclyn’s favorite is a spicy sausage pasta dish, but can also be swayed by anything with potatoes or a mexican flavor profile. He’s a bit of a kid at heart: When Jaclyn receives a package, it’s most likely clothes or shoes, but when a package for Joel arrives, she doesn’t know whether to expect legos, a puzzle, or video games. It’s a good thing she enjoys pitching in on those activities too, but when it comes to games of the N64 era or before, Joel’s got her beat. He can’t get enough Harry Potter: When channel surfing and a glimpse of Dobby flashes across the screen, Jaclyn knows to leave things there as Joel will be immediately drawn into the story and distracted for hours, which gives her a chance to browse Nordstrom’s latest releases in peace. Jaclyn has grown to accept this is just a piece of their life and thus they naturally both have house robes and have visited the wizarding world in both Orlando and Los Angeles.

The time finally came for Joel to propose to Jaclyn as he knew he couldn’t let this wonderful woman get away and he needed her to be with him for the rest of their lives. Although she certainly knew a proposal was in the works, he didn’t want her to know when and where. So, on January 12th, 2019, he schemed up a way to make her believe they’d be watching a football game with some friends at a restaurant by Greenlake, when in actuality it would be just them. Jaclyn thought to herself if they were meeting friends, she’d extend the invite, luckily the other friends already had plans and this didn’t become a bigger party than Joel had planned. He got to the restaurant about 15 minutes before he said they’d be meeting their friends, and then proceeded to wait about 40 MINUTES for her to arrive, it seemed like a lifetime. Once she arrived, he advised that their friends actually ended up deciding on a different location around the lake and they’d need to walk over there. Well, this didn’t make Jaclyn too enthused as she didn’t have on her walking boots, but Joel dragged her around the lake anyway towards where their friends were hypothetically watching a football game that neither of them cared about. This added to Jaclyn’s frustration as they were taking a longer route than necessary to get to the next place, but she started to get the feeling that something was up. As they approached a clearing in the crowds that typically surround Greenlake Joel spurted out some words about love & forever, and fumbled for the ring that he had popped in his pocket and had been checking on every 2.5 seconds to make sure he hadn’t dropped it, and got to one knee. He asked Jaclyn to spend the rest of her life with him and do him the honor of marrying him. Jaclyn then waited for what felt like to Joel a full day and a half to provide a response, but in actuality spit out a ‘yes’ as quick as she realized what Joel had just asked.

This is where all of YOU come in! We want you there with us when we make this commitment to each other and then for the party to follow afterwards. We are excited to host all of you at Georgetown Ballroom on Friday, August 23rd, 2019.