If our love story was a movie, the audience might complain about the pacing. You see, Jacob and I managed not to cross paths on multiple occasions. He started his college career at Oregon State University, while I worked for a college in Alaska. I left University of Alaska Fairbanks for a Masters program at OSU, while Jacob moved home to attend Chemeketa. Two years later Jacob moved on to Oregon Tech in Wilsonville and I took a job at Chemeketa. Our meet-cute finally arrived in 2019 when I found myself on staff at Oregon Tech. He walked into my office looking for a job, but what he found was ultimately more valuable. I didn't hire him, not that he wasn't worthy of the position. When he proclaimed to the tutoring center that I was "cuter than a rubber duckie" I knew that it wouldn't work for him to be on my staff. I gave him a choice and he told me that he would rather spend his time getting to know me better. Then we walked. Talk about slow pacing! We walked around campus. We walked in wooded parks. We walked on the abandoned railroad tracks near his home, outran angry yellow jackets, huddled through Oregon downpours, and basked in our private wilderness. We put in hundreds of miles talking, walking, and ultimately planning out our future together. We walked for more than a year before Covid hit, not dating, just walking and getting to know each other while we both sorted out brokenness left behind from past relationships. Finally, in the Spring of 2020, amidst grief and heartache, forest fires and ice storms, flooded basements and power outages, hospital stays and numerous family health challenges, and even an isolating pandemic, we emerged from the maelstrom with the confidence that it didn't matter what life would bring, we would walk it together. In November, 2021, Jacob got down on one knee and proposed. But that is a story for another day. We are are so excited for you to join us in the long-awaited celebration of two souls who were separated by time, distance, and circumstances, but will now join together to start a new journey as husband and wife. And so the adventure begins.