Jacob and Lisa initially connected online through a dating app called Hinge. The app typically connected you to people you knew through mutual friends or were in close proximity with, so the fact that the two showed up on each other’s profiles, seeing as they were living in different states at the time, was unusual. Lisa had a work conference up in Milwaukee shortly after the two started talking, so they decided to meet up for drinks at The Wicked Hop in the Third Ward the evening before the conference. The two hit it off, and for the next year or so, took turns spending time in Wisconsin and Illinois. Though the pandemic created an unfortunate turn of events, it did allow Lisa and Jacob to work remotely with each other and progress their relationship much faster than they would have been able to otherwise. Being able to enjoy each other’s company doing puzzles and cooking at home, as well as spending a fancy night out on the town showed that they could have fun doing anything, as long as it was in each other’s company. Come April 2021, Jacob moved back to Illinois, and him and Lisa started renting a house in Geneva. About a month later, they grew their family, and rescued their furkittens Maui and Kikko. Come July, on Jacob’s 30th birthday, their next adventure started…

Since college, Jacob had spent many birthdays away from family and friends as he had moved around for work, and wasn’t always in the area. That being said, Lisa wanted to make his 30th birthday extra special. In May, she secretly messaged family and friends about a surprise party she wanted to throw him. She spent the next two months planning and scheming to have family and friends travel in, and ended up having everyone surprise Jacob at Top Golf in Naperville on an extremely hot and humid day in July! Afterward, everyone went to Lisa’s parent’s house to relax, eat, and continue celebrating. Little did Lisa know that Jacob had also messaged family and friends back in May about throwing Lisa a surprise birthday (and engagement party) the following weekend. Once Jacob realized his family and friends were in town for his birthday, he moved his proposal up a weekend and proposed to Lisa in her parent’s backyard in front of all of their loved ones. The two spent the next week in bliss, and Lisa thought the proposal was over. The weekend of her birthday they spent the day with two of their good friend’s, Manny and Jerome, going on a bike ride, doing a wine tasting, and having Manny take engagement pictures of them in the park. After engagement pictures they headed to Penrose Brewery in Geneva for what Lisa thought were a few drinks with friends. It turned out to be a surprise birthday/engagement party, and Lisa couldn’t have been more surprised! The celebration continued! The two spent those two weeks feeling all of the love and support of family and friends!