Our story starts as most modern love stories do, on the internet. (And in our case, partially through mutual friends.) I know when you hear the internet, your mind goes instantly to online dating apps. Jay and I used an unconventional dating app…Twitter. The two of us have many mutual friends, some of whom share group chats on various apps. For years we had interacted with each other, he under the name Internet Dad, and me under the name Girl Fieri. (I know, I'm not even being forced to admit this and here we are). Long story short, Jay replied to one of my tweets in a DM (mom-that means direct message), and after a few messages back and forth and a frantic group FaceTime with some of my girlfriends who know Jay, we exchanged numbers in September of 2020. Towards the end of October, we each quarantined for two weeks, got COVID tested, and then had our first date in my small studio apartment under the staunch supervision of Dorothy. What was going to be just one evening spent together turned into a long weekend. We both went into it thinking that it would be a funny story to share with our friends. The end of the weekend came and we both knew that we wanted to continue to spend time getting to know each other. Over the course of COVID, Jay and I logged many hours together and alternated weekends between Eau Claire and Minnesota. We grew to love each other steadily over the course the pandemic. There's a special type of patience and comfort you develop with someone when you co-exist in a cramped, 700 square-foot space. While I never want to live through another pandemic in my lifetime, I wouldn't trade the time with Jay for the world. Now, Jay and I live in our first home, still under the staunch supervision of Dorothy. While they were both skeptics of sharing a space with one another, Dorothy has grown to love sleeping on Jay and he has grown into such a cat person that he can often be found singing her songs or buying her a new hat. I continue to listen to music too loudly, Jay continues to be patient when he hears the same Noah Kahan, Hozier, and Rainbow Kitten Surprise albums. I continue to nod my head like I understand when he explains his latest video game. No matter where life takes us next, we know we will never stop finding afternoons to grill out with Mark and Pammy Kay and to enjoy Lucia's Sunday sauce. Our life together has been proven to have many adventures and although we can't see the future, I know that my life is infinitely better having Jay in. Jay and I talk often about the way that we are a beautiful conglomeration of our friends and family. To have so many of you in one place to celebrate us as we venture into marriage is such a gift. Wedding days turn into anniversaries which will eventually be one of many things we celebrate each year. There is no better group of people make the memories of our wedding day with, so cheers to spending November 9th, 2024 making memories that will last us a lifetime. With all of our love, Kallie & Jay