Country Thunder, April 2018 - Jayme needed a ride to the festival because of a Friday class that went until 3. A mutual friend knew another student who also had a late class Friday who could take her. Blake (and his mom!) picked Jayme up - Tanya and Jayme hit it off right away. After dropping Tanya off, Blake and Jayme headed to the concert. After hours of great conversation, they got to the concert and went their separate ways. Tanya continued to ask Blake about "that girl" - to which Blake brushed off his mom trying to play matchmaker. Fast forward to Fall 2018 - Jayme a 5th year senior and Blake a senior, both coincidentally in the Civil and Architectural Engineering College (no wonder they both had a late Friday class!). Another mutual friend asked if they'd want to join a competitive class team, if they won they'd get a free trip to New Orleans. Motivated by the chance to get a free adventure for a little bit of work, the team set forth on their proposal, winning the Southwest Division of the competition and securing the trip to NOLA! While in NOLA, Blake and Jayme discovered they were some of the only students that actually wanted to SEE the city! They explored Bourbon Street, rode bikes around town, toured Tulane and saw their respective sorority and fraternity houses, went to the WW2 museum, and of course had alot of fun at the Famous Door. After a week in New Orleans, the crush was fully set.

Jayme was graduating in May 2019, and thought surely this couldn't last. She was moving to Houston for a post-college job. He still had another year to finish school (another thing they have in common, 5th years) - but things continued to fall into place for them - they spent time in the summer in Blake's hometown of Maple Valley, WA, visited her family in Minnesota, and stayed in touch as Jayme did a 6 week stint in Berlin. Come 2020, Blake took a post college job in Dallas to be as close to Houston as possible. Covid of course had other plans - DPR let him know he could keep his job but he'd be moving to Sacramento. Then it changed again and he was sent to LA! He snagged a COVID-discounted apartment steps away from the beach. What was originally a heartbreak being so far from each other, turned into a silver lining. Jayme came to stay with him for a few months, and eventually took a job in Phoenix, AZ. Blake moved to Phoenix and bought a house in 2022. The two continued to live 10 minutes from each other, enjoying young adulthood with friends and building up their lives in Arizona. They share a passion for being on the go, and have traveled to London, Greece, Alaska, Costa Rica, Croatia, Sweden, Norway, and Amsterdam together. Blake was able to get Jayme to fall in love with skiing, and the two also love to ski in the winters. In November 2024, Jayme moved into Blake's house and they now enjoy nights in with meals at home, biking to the parks and restaurants near their house, and throwing their annual parties like the Halloween Pumpkin Carving Party and Christmas Gingerbread House Making Party.

In August 2024, Blake suggested an anniversary trip back to LA, near Redondo Beach where he lived and the couple's favorite place to go. He surprised Jayme with her dream day - beachside hotel they always dreamed of staying in, morning yoga on the beach, and ended with a proposal in the park where they'd go during Covid to play Othello and have an oceanside picnic. After the proposal, Jayme asked if they could take photos on the beach - Blake's plan was working out perfectly. The couple parked in front of a house on Manhattan beach, to which Jayme said "we're going to get towed if we park here, this is someone's house!" Blake said not to worry - this is a common dynamic of the two so Jayme rolled with it. After coming around the corner, she realized why - her closest friends and family had flown in from all over the country to celebrate the couple at the house that Blake had actually rented for the night. They spent the night celebrating with a beautiful sunset on the beach, heartfelt speeches from the family, and an after hours trip to Shellback Tavern. It was truly better than any proposal Jayme could have dreamed up!