Join us for some joyous nuptials!

Olena and Jake both arrived in Olympia, WA within one month of each other. She moved from Orting, where she had been finishing her fourth year of medical school, and he escaped Nebraska for the greener forests of the west coast. They "met" online while they were both settling into their new jobs ... and then didn't actually meet for two months. Resident life for Olena was bonkers, and Jake was really busy getting lost in the woods. Their first date was a quick meet up after Thanksgiving and just before Olena started two weeks of overnight work, so their second date was two weeks later.

Olena appreciates Jake's loving attitude, which she sees in all the small things he does every day for her, normally without complaint. She likes his patient approach to her sometimes hectic life and how supportive he is when a brilliant new idea or project comes bursting through her door. And in the midst of those exciting times, she treasures his calm demeanor and approach to life even while he retains a joie de vivre. As we all know, Olena is a fabulous driver, but she really likes how Jake is always ready to take the wheel, and how he's a fount of trivia, like that the little tab on the bottom of her rearview mirror isn't just for dangling things. Jake feels like his life is made fuller by Olena's energy and the joy she radiates as she ricochets through life (both his and her own). He has always appreciated the chance to learn from those he loves, and Olena always has something new to tell him. Her exuberant approach toward life is infectious and seems to only increase his own fulfillment, and he loves how they always find things to giggle about. And he appreciates that she always laughs at his jokes, even/especially when they're bad.

The first weekend of December 2023, at a secluded treehouse getaway in Snohomish, Jake proposed to Olena in very typical Pacific Northwest environment: the dark, rainy woods, surrounded by ferns, fairy lights, and towering evergreens. Of course, the whole tale is less storybook: Olena was exhausted after a stressful chief week at her Residency program, they were both sore and achy from the COVID boosters they'd received the day before, and Jake was still recovering from having a minor panic attack when the trunk of the car had popped open on I-5. Thankfully, the stress was waning, the soreness was fading, and the ring, secreted away in his camera bag, had made it through the trip. They spent the rest of the weekend traveling to visit friends and family so they could join in on Olena's occasional, semi-disbelieving shriek of "OH MY GOD I'M GETTING MARRIED."