In modern-day fairytale fashion, Amanda and Jay met on Bumble Premium. After exchanging a few witty texts, they decided to skip the endless messaging and meet in person. So, on May 9th, 2022, they had their first date at Brick Stone in Sutton, MA. Amanda knew she liked Jay the moment he jumped out of his truck (seriously, the man can exit a truck with style). As they sat down to order, Jay—being Jay—insisted on getting an appetizer (apparently, this is non-negotiable). They went with the pizza gnocchi, which was delicious, but the real magic happened when Amanda, without hesitation, dunked the leftover bread into the sauce like it was the most natural thing in the world. For Jay, that was it—love at first dip. Amanda didn’t think much of it, but for Jay, it was the moment he knew he’d found his soulmate. Later that night, Amanda, who was living at home with her parents at the time, came home and burst into tears. Her mom, Susan, immediately launched into mom-mode: “What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Where have you been? Why are you crying—you never cry!” Amanda, with a smirk and teary eyes, simply said, “I think I met my husband today.” Her mom gave her a big bear hug and, of course, demanded all the juicy details. A few months later, Amanda called Jay with some big news: “Hey, I bought a two-family! It needs some work, but I figured we could tackle it together.” Because who wouldn’t want to dive into a year-long renovation within the first six months of dating, right? What followed were countless hurdles, walls punched, clothes covered in paint and plaster, and a few colorful words exchanged. But somehow, they managed to survive—with their relationship intact (a small miracle, really). Oh, and during all of this, Jay was finishing up his electrical apprenticeship, studying for his journeyman’s test while also working full-time. Amanda may know nothing about electrical work, but she whipped out the flashcards, pens, and highlighters, and they studied together. Jay passed his test with flying colors and finished the renovation in the same year. Talk about multitasking! Pro tip: If you want to test a relationship, buy a fixer-upper. You’ll either find out you're meant to be or realize you’re both terrible at DIY. Luckily for Amanda and Jay, they fell into the “meant to be” category. After all, getting through a house renovation and still managing to get engaged must be some sort of rare statistic. By the end of it all, Amanda’s brothers started referring to Jay as her "knight in shining armor"—mostly because they wanted no part in the renovation. By November 2023, the house renovation was finally over (thank goodness), and life started to return to normal. Well, whatever “normal” means. In January 2024, Amanda was unexpectedly laid off from her job, which put a bit of a wrench in Jay’s plans to propose. But on February 29th, 2024—Leap Day, to be exact—Jay popped the question in their apartment in Worcester, MA, right in the middle of the day. Because if he’d planned anything more elaborate, Amanda would’ve known something was up. Unbeknownst to Jay, when Amanda heard his car pull up, she thought he had gotten laid off too—so her double stress was quickly replaced with surprise when Jay got down on one knee and presented a gorgeous Ceylon sapphire and diamond ring. Talk about a twist! Naturally, she cried, hugged him, and said, “YESSS!”