We met while working in the Emergency Department at Decatur Memorial Hospital. Joe always jokes that it took a pandemic to bring us together, but here we are! We had our first date at Vele in January of 2021 and the rest is history...

Blaine's parents, brother, and bonus sister were coming to Carbondale to visit her during her first year of medical school. We had such a fun weekend together hiking and eating our way through southern Illinois. We planned to go hiking at Garden of The Gods in Shawnee National Forrest when Joe popped the question on the overlook trail. To Blaine's surprise, Joe's parents, sister, and brother-in-law met us at the trail and we all celebrated with champagne. "It smells like fried chicken," is the que that Blaine's sister-in-law used to signal to Joe the cameras were at the ready. This quote came from a hike the day before at Giant City State Park when we could smell the famous fried chicken from the Giant City Lodge while in the woods.