Vanessa knew she wanted to be a teacher from a very young age. She spent many days of her childhood creating fake math tests for her stuffed animals and bossing around the neighborhood kids to play school with her (sorry Kayla, Kasey and Kelly!) Vanessa's first job post college was in Aurora, CO at Edna and John Mosley P-8 as a 5th grade teacher. She then followed her students up to 6th grade for the 2016-2017 school year. Jason spent the first 10 years post college working at Yellowstone National Park and then in Steamboat Springs, CO. He decided he wanted to pursue a career with his education degree and got a job teaching middle school English in Denver, CO. He quickly decided that he wanted to stay in education, but in a different capacity than teaching. He applied to be a dean at John and Edna Mosley P-8 for the 2016-2017 school year.

It took some time for Jason and Vanessa to spend time with each other outside of school. It wasn't until early March when an after school work event led them both to Old Chicago Pizza. It started with hanging out together more with coworkers going to karaoke nights, school functions, and birthday celebrations together. Then on St. Patrick's Day of 2017, a group of coworkers were supposed to get together for drinks at Lowry Beer Garden (if you've visited them in Denver, they probably took you there) after work. Nobody showed up, so Vanessa and Jason spent a few hours alone talking about everything under the sun. From that day on, the two have been pretty much inseparable.

Jason took Vanessa to Steamboat Springs, CO for an early anniversary getaway weekend. The two started their night at the base of the mountain having a drink and catching up with old friends of Jason. After, the couple took a gondola ride up the mountain, and observed some of the most beautiful views in all of Colorado. At the top, they met up with more old friends of Jason, including a band that had been performing at the location for more than 30+ years. After ordering a glass of wine, Jason took Vanessa on the patio for more beautiful views, where he got on one knee and asked her to be his wife. They then celebrated to an announcement inside, lots of cheers, and a love song performed by the band just for them. Many (MANY) tears later, dinner was next at the bottom of the mountain. Cafe Diva catered to the loving couple perfectly. There were even fireworks, although for completely different purposes than the news of their engagement. The next two days were spent in the hot springs and enjoying all the perks that come with the news of getting engaged. Especially when Jason still knows so many people in the town! It was the perfect weekend and a perfect start to forever.