Mark and Jessica met on Hinge, a dating app, a month after Jessica had moved to Arizona for her job. After about a month of talking, Jessica finally decided to give him a chance and go on their first date together. Luckily Mark didn't use the cheesy pick up line about being "today's date". Their first date was at North Italia, where they finished a bottle of wine and surprisingly didn't have any awkward silence. Mark felt like Jessica could already complete his sentences and thoughts for him because they had so much in common. One of the things they had in common was working for the same company at that time, so they joked about just telling people "they met at work". After a few weeks of dating, they went on a weekend trip to Sedona where Mark asked Jessica to be his girlfriend. They will always remember that weekend not only for that reason, but because they got lost for 9 miles looking for the secret cave on the trail. Jessica made sure that she appeared super patient on that hike to not scare him off, but Mark now knows that patience is definitely not one of Jessica’s strengths. After a few months of dating, COVID hit and they pretty much moved in together. Their little family grew during quarantine; they got Kane a little sister when they adopted Leia from PACC. Their relationship has continued to grow since then, especially when they committed to renovating their home from the ground up.

For those of you who know the couple well, know that Jessica is the planner of the two. So of course there was suspicion when Mark took the lead on planning this weekend getaway. He told Jessica that they needed a weekend away since they have been so busy with work and she had been studying for her board certification, so it would be perfect to go after the exam and have a relaxing weekend. The day of the proposal they went to brunch at one of their favorite spots in Sedona and Mark told her that he set up an appointment with Cloth & Flame to tour one of the venue spots they were looking at. Jessica was surprised because when she asked they mentioned they didn't do tours on the weekends, but she didn't question it. Little did Jessica know when Mark was on the phone talking with "Cloth and Flame" it was really Mike Murphy. Both Mike and Brent were secretly hiding in the bushes just off the trail. On the trail was a table with roses and framed milestone locations of their first date, their first home, and a blank one to signify the proposal. As they walked up to the table it was becoming clearer that there was no appointment. While Jessica was trying to figure out what was on the table, Mark pulled out a box he was hiding in his pocket and got down on one knee. Jessica turned around with excitement, after putting the pieces together, and gave the happiest "yes" Mark has ever heard. After a quick celebration with pictures and champagne on the trail, they headed to their favorite winery in Cottonwood, DA Ranch. Jessica was caught off guard again when she saw that their family and friends were there waiting to join the celebration.