Jarrod and Stella met in high school through mutual friends, building a decade-long friendship, before they decided to take that friendship to a different level.

A long distance relationship was formed after Jarrod moved to Colorado to see more of the world. Jarrod flew home to visit Stella for her birthday in December, when they went on their first date. Within a few weeks, Stella flew to spend New Years in Colorado with Jarrod. Cross-country flights became a monthly occurrence as they took turns flying between Colorado and Pennsylvania, savoring every minute they spent together as they began making plans for when the distance between them wasn’t so great.

After months of flying back and forth, the couple decided it would be best to be in the same state and both began looking for jobs where the other lived. Within a few months Jarrod found a job in Pittsburgh and was packing for another long drive. Jarrod likes to remind Stella that though she flew to make the drive home with him, she is a horrible co-pilot and slept most of the drive home.

Jarrod proposed to Stella during a moonlit walk on the beach in North Carolina. Clearly she said yes!