April 22, 2022

In 2019, Jacob was working at the Buckle in Columbia, SC as a manager. As a part of his training, he often traveled to other stores in the state to gain additional experience and train new employees. At a smaller location, in Mt Pleasant SC, he met Dallas. They originally met in January during inventory, but never actually spoke until he was sent back to her store to work for a week. Before one of their shifts ended, Dallas asked him to go out to a local bar for drinks. There, at My Father's Mustache, a relationship would be cultivated. They would talk back and forth for several weeks before making it official, but on March 16th 2019, they would unknowingly decide to spend the rest of their lives with each other.

On March 15th 2021, Jacob hired a secret photographer to capture one of the most important moments of his and Dallas' life. His plan was simple: to take Dallas to see the Florida sunset like they had so many times before. Knowing that Dallas was already suspicious of the whole operation, his only choice was to see it through as casually as possible. When they arrived on Lido Key, the sun was starting to set, they sat looking out at the horizon, taking it all in. Dallas turned to Jacob with a shell in her hand and jokingly asked him to marry her (thinking that Jake had caught on to her suspicions and decided to postpone asking). As his suspicions were now confirmed, he (perplexed) played it off, but kept the shell she gave him. He asked her to take a walk on the beach and they gradually made their way to the ocean. As the water washed over their feet, Jacob had Dallas look out towards the sun. He asked her, "What do you see?". She replied with, "A future, a house, children (whether our own, adopted, or fostered)" and he responded with "or all of the above". She then said "Or all of the above, why do you ask?". "I just want you to enjoy this moment, and take it all in, as this day should only come once, hopefully" Jacob slowly got down on one knee, and pulled out the ring his Grandmother had given him. He then asked her to turn around. With tears flowing, she accepted the ring and the two were officially engaged.