After graduating college in 2018, Austin moved back to Charlotte. About a year later in 2019, Jessi made the move down south from NJ. They lived around the corner from each other in South End. One afternoon, Jessi went to meet her friends, DJ and Dakota, at Sycamore for a beer, and their neighbor, Austin, tagged along. We continued to hang out frequently within our friend group. Nine months later, Covid hit and we were all stuck at home. We found ourselves all hanging out on the top deck of the parking garage every day to pass time. After a few weeks of hanging out every day, their friendship grew into something more and we couldn't be happier that it did!

It was Saturday, December 9, 2023. We were planning to host our first Christmas party in our new home. Earlier that week, Austin suggested we go to a nice lunch on Saturday afternoon to celebrate living in our home for 1 year. Jessi was hesitant at first because she was in party planning/cleaning mode, but Austin was persistent, so she reluctantly agreed to go. As they were walking out the front door to make their reservation, Jessi heard some rustling in the front bushes. She saw Dakota pop out with a camera snapping pictures, and when she turned back around, Austin was on one knee. It was completely unexpected so Jessi blacked out and does not remember anything Austin said, but the important thing was that she said yes!