We're getting married!

We had practiced our counting, spelling our names, and the alphabet, and it was finally time to start this thing called kindergarten in Mrs. Vaughn’s class at West Meade Elementary in Nashville, TN. Day One went off without a hitch (except that Marci’s mom forgot it was only a half day and Marci had to stay with the teacher and another student until her mom could pick her up after leaving work), and little did Jacob and Marci know that they would be in the same class with their future spouse. Of course they each had their own separate kindergarten crushes and it would take 25 years and a lot of experiences both adjacent and afar to circle back to each other.

First of all, Marci wants everyone to know that Jacob was late! Those of you who know Jacob know this is extremely out of character. Jacob attributes that to Marci pushing back the time originally selected and a very important Triumph Strategies business call (he’s a business man). But who could have known this would be the first of many sushi dates they would share together? Especially since Jacob thought Marci just wanted to be friends and texted her the next day, “it was great catching up with you,” and then didn’t text her again for five days. Luckily with the nudging of his friends Pete and Jenna, he decided to ask for date number two. From there, it became clear there was something special between the two of them, and they haven’t looked back since!

How do you combine sushi, family, friends, dogs, and love? This task was what kept Jacob up at night as he prepared to pop the question. He got buy-in (and permission) from Marci's parents and her aunt Robin. He went back and forth with her best friends looking at different ring designs. He got Marci's parents to invite them over for shabbat dinner as a cover up to hold the date. Then he forwarded the calendar invite that Marci sent him to them to say thank you but then they accepted the invitation- first time she thought something was up. When the shabbat dinner was cancelled he suggested that they go to her favorite sushi spot, Sushiyobi. She then proceeded to invite everyone she could think of to come to dinner with them, but luckily they all said no and were in on the plan. Unfortunately, plans sometimes go awry! When Jacob asked Marci if she was ready to go that evening, she was getting dressed up and putting makeup on - rare for a casual Friday night - so he knew that she knew something was up. The ring was burning a hole in his pocket, but he tried to play it cool. Their Lyft arrived and as they were leaving the neighborhood, she saw their friends Demi and Lorne pulling in (to pick up Barley). Then they set off the security alarm on the house! Jacob came up with a bad excuse of hitting the wrong button to set the alarm and told her not dispatch the police. Luckily for him, she humored him and went along with it. They had a nice dinner (after Marci recognized the person who was there to take the pictures!) and Jacob went to the bathroom to give the friends and family hidden down the street a warning to come over. When he got back to the table, Marci said she had to go to the bathroom too - but that wouldn't leave enough time for her to get back to the table without seeing the family and friends! So he ignored her request and proceeded with the proposal. She said "of course!" and then they joined family and friends down the street to continue the festivities.