Join us in a galaxy far, far up north...

I didn't plan on meeting my future wife during my first day at Jimmy John's in May 2012. Danielle was the smallest, yet largest person in the place, calling out demands of her coworkers as if she were Jimmy herself. Her authority is what caught my eye, and after one year of working together we grew much closer. Our young relationship was put to an important test when it came time for my study abroad in South Africa that summer. I was gone for four weeks, and even though I was having fun, I was thinking of Danielle at every moment, wishing she was there to share the experience. The long flight home was full of anxiety and played-out conversations in my head. "What is she going to say? Does she still feel the same way?" I made my way to the baggage claim before she called me, frantically asking where I was. Then, as I saw her approaching from a distance—without seeing me yet—I saw a reflection of my own anxiety. I knew she was excited to see me, and after a long hug in front of dozens of strangers in front of an empty baggage carousel, I fell in love with Danielle. The rest, as they say, is history.

Once upon a time in 2012 there was a young lad who came in to Jimmy John's on a hot spring day. Cooper doesn't remember this day, but I remember it very well. Not even 2 minutes had passed after Cooper's interview ended when my gay coworker whispered to me, "Me and Cooper are going to be best friends." Well they were not even close to friends. And little did I know it would be the first time I would see my husband to be! The winter of 2012 I was invited to an ugly christmas sweater party and went with some younger friends. I was so excited because I knew Cooper was going to be there and I kept telling my friends how cute he was. They nicely told me to quit saying it so much because I was being annoying. In spring 2013 we hung out again at a party that Cooper and his roommates threw. After that night we started hanging out more frequently with common Jimmy Johns friends. We became really close but unfortunately Cooper had to go on this stupid trip to South Africa at the end of summer so we hung out all the time to maximize our time together. He asked me for permission before our first kiss, he asked me out to sushi for out first date and we (not planned) both wore same color and sat outside under an umbrella on a rainy day. Then he went to study abroad and I picked him up at the airport and everyone stared and thought we were weird because we were so excited to see each other. And then on September 26th Cooper romantically sent a Facebook request to be in a relationship with me and I told him no until he could ask me himself. True love.

August 28, 2017. At the time, we were still in the construction stages of Danielle's new dog grooming salon. It was one of those long days—work, come home, eat, go back to work. We weren't in the highest spirits, but still excited to see progress made on the new salon. I wanted to propose to Danielle at the end of the night, as we reflected on us building a future together (pun intended). I just needed an excuse to grab the ring from my pants drawer before we left. "Oh, I forgot to brush my teeth!" Brilliant excuse. As I attempted to mimic teeth brushing while fumbling through packaging and papers, I heard Danielle approach. "Are you done yet?" She said, right before opening the door to me trying to act like nothing was going on. The protruding box in my pocket didn't do my secret any favors. I've been had! She grabbed the box in my pocket and questioned, "what's that in your pocket???? can I have it?????" There was no hiding it now, so I bent down to one knee on our bath mat and asked Danielle to marry me. She obviously said yes.

We moved to Traverse City in August 2016 after Cooper's graduated from MSU. Since then Cooper is working at a marketing agency developing websites and digital marketing strategy. In September 2017 Danielle has opened her own dog grooming salon Petit Pooch with her Matron of Honor Kelsey. We have lots of animals which include Bella our chihuahua, Peaches our ginger kitty, Giggles our other kitty, Mayzie the albino corn snake and a giant 55 gallon fish tank with about 15 fish! We currently have vacancy for the summer of 2018 lodging at the Sigourney Residence if you would like to schedule a visit next summer please call and ask for Bella and she will set you up with a room.