Jeremy and I both admit that neither one of us is what we pictured, yet we're exactly what we wanted. It seems cliche to say "we met on a dating app," until you hear the backstory. Jen's side of the story: I had zero interest in joining a dating app after divorce. Yet in July 2023, one night after a run with a friend, I came home and felt compelled and excited to download the dating app, Hinge. When Jeremy messaged me a whole 3 days later, I had decided that my interest for being on the dating apps was to meet cool people and do fun things again. The "happily ever after" could wait. But apparently Jeremy couldn't. After a couple days of small exchanges in between vacations, Jeremy and I jumped into the deep end of a fascinating conversation that left me...intrigued. However, just as I was getting distracted away from the conversation, Jer re-ignited my curiosity by throwing out this question: "Oh....Jen. It took me a minute. But I was fairly certain. Might you by chance be the "apparently video" girl?" That re-engaged me; how on earth had he seen that video that my friends had taken of me having a meltdown in the middle of the night during a long run through the mountains? He decided to hold onto how he saw it until our first phone call. Our first 1 hour 57 minute phone call felt like five minutes, and I hung up feeling ignited, enlivened, and intrigued. Later that week, we decided to meet up in Teasedale, Utah to attend the outdoor performance by the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera. Being the incredible man that he is, Jeremy offered to drive up to Lehi to pick me up so we could drive down together (in case I fell asleep after having run through the mountains all night long...). When Jer showed up at my doorstep, his words were, "It's you!" To which I replied, "It's me!" As we started talking, a strange feeling came over me. Not only did everything feel at ease and completely comfortable as though I had known him for a very long time, but I felt like I had missed him and we were reuniting. Our 26-hour road trip to Capitol Reef was filled with nonstop talking, laughter, tears, and our stories of life and how we got to where we are today. Jer called me his "plot twist" as he also felt things that were new and "confronting" as we talked and exchanged some form of communication every day from the day we first started communicating, even when we stopped dating... In Oct 2023, we sat across the table from each other at a restaurant outside of Zion NP and through tears, both admitted that, "I love you, but I have to date other people..." Yet even as we dated other people, our friendship remained. Six months later I boldly told him that I was ready to date only him, and it was okay if he didn't feel the same. Our whole story has been an experience of loving unconditionally without force or expectation. I learned a long time ago to trust that God is guiding me and to surrender the outcome. Dating Jeremy has been no exception to this. Yet, we both kept holding onto something even though we didn't yet understand it and weren't quite ready for each other; we still had growing, discovery, and healing to do. The greatest learning has been in letting go of what I think things should look like and how they will go, and letting things unfold as they come. Life has become much more interesting when I'm not constantly trying to write the story: I've learned that I can't write it! Life with Jeremy is so beautiful as we've given each other the chance to show up in full vulnerability and safety for who we are, what we feel, bringing all of our strengths and weaknesses to the table, we've experienced an incredible healing and growth. I have been amazed to realize that Jeremy is exactly what I have always wanted--and even more! I"m so excited for this next chapter with Jeremy, as we continue to blend our full, beautiful lives together and create something incredible of our own! Thank you all for being a part of my story. Love, Jen