On August 16, 2020, Jonathan was casually looking through Hinge profiles when he came across an adorable black dog sitting on a stool. That dog belonged to Michelle, who responded to Jon's “like” two hours later. Four days later, she was making fun of him for having a Samsung and four days after that (August 24, 2020 for those keeping track) she was hiding in her car before their first date. They met at a local restaurant for lunch and Jonathan was instantly impressed because Michelle knew what a Mustang was. He was subsequently horrified when she ordered nachos for her meal. Michelle was nervous the entire time, but the date lasted over two hours so clearly something was going right. Three dates later, she was handing him a book to read, and many dates later he had finished it. (Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, if anyone is looking for a recommendation). She was sold. The way to Michelle's heart is definitely through books. About ten months after meeting, Michelle's parents decided to refinish the floors in two very important areas of the house: the kitchen and family room. In order to avoid the chaos, she stayed with Jonathan. And then never left. They have been living together ever since. Michelle and Jonathan have since enjoyed trips to Stratton Mountain, Florida, a tiny cabin in the woods, and Salisbury Beach. They also spend their time together playing video games, seeing movies, starting and not finishing television shows, and going out to eat. We are very excited to celebrate with everyone in 2024!

Michelle thought it was awfully suspicious when her best friend Nadia just happened to have dinner reservations at her favorite steakhouse. However, it was a Thursday and Jonathan insisted he had nothing to do with it. So, she got all dressed up and left while he seemingly went back inside to play video games in sweatpants. Michelle and Nadia drove down the road to a salon so Nadia could make an appointment while Jonathan sprinted back upstairs and got dressed as quickly as he could. Apparently, he did not need to rush. Rather than a quick in and out, Michelle and Nadia waited at the salon for over 20 minutes. During this time, Jonathan grew more and more nervous, and had to shoo away more and more people from the proposal location. Finally, they left and were on their way to dinner! Except, Nadia pulled the car over next to the rose garden in Schenectady and told Michelle to get out. Michelle freaked out, delaying her arrival further. Once she finally got out of the car, she saw a note on a tree instructing her to follow the pathway. At the end, Jonathan was waiting for her in the rose garden underneath the central archway. Despite his insistence that he is not good at being sweet, he said some very cute words and then opened the ring box... upside down. After a quick correction by Michelle, they were good to go! She said yes, Nadia took pictures, and Michelle even got her steak (which was very important to her). And the rest is history.