We met on Miami University's mock trial team. As you might imagine, mock trial involves a lot of arguing — sometimes we say we got all of our arguing out of the way before we even started dating! (We did not.) In some ways, we reached a reasonable settlement, and in April 2010, we started dating.
That's right. It's been 10 years for us, through law school, bar exams, and beyond. We have been so lucky to grow together as students and starting our careers. We've done frisbee golf (where Jake memorably hit Irene in the leg), we've had bangs, and we've learned to cook. We have traveled, a few times to Florida and D.C., once to Puerto Rico (where Jeff paid Jake back by leaving him stuck at security), and once to Europe.
Now, we're a little older and wiser. There are even a few gray hairs that weren't there in 2010. We know how to do our laundry and we don't own a "Pasta Boat." But through everything, we have learned how to support each other and love each other. We know our take out orders to Chipotle by heart. We look a little more adult than we did in 2010, but we're still laughing as much as we were then. We have expanded our family as well. In 2016, we adopted Mac. Mac is a five-year-old Yorkshire Terrier who now runs the house. We spend most of our evenings walking him so he can survey his kingdom. We didn't realize we needed him, but now we don't know what we would do without him and his quirky routines.
Finally, in June 2018, Jake decided it was time to formalize our roles as co-parents to Mac and the houseplants, and proposed at Miami University's Alumni Weekend (check out the video)! Surrounded by a few thousand friends, and under Miami's romantic Upham Arch, Elizabeth said yes. We are so excited for the next chapter of our journey. A Miami Merger is when two alumni from Miami University marry each other - and we can't wait to join the club.