It all started in 7th grade. I had never seen someone so talented, so cool, so kind. This person got me like nobody else had. It was Jewel (not Jacob...yet :-)). And the first time I heard her sing "I'm sensitive and I'd like to stay that way," I knew at that very moment I had to be her...and she had lived in Alaska. I just had to figure out how to get there. Meanwhile, a young Jacob Platt was also making his own way to Alaska. After growing up in Ocean Springs, MS, he set on his own path doing community service (not court ordered) in CO, racing sailboats, fishing, and following his favorite bands. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Jacob left the South and headed to Seward to show people how to fish and appreciate LSU football (which feat was the most difficult, it's hard to say). This led to a year-round boat captain's position delivering fuel and freight around Prince William Sound, being on a "your mom" jokes familiarity with Alaskan chiefs in small island villages. Five states and 7 countries later, I was coming to the realization that being a folk singer was no longer in the cards, but Alaska was still calling. The first job I found while searching in Alaska, was the first I applied for, the first I heard from, and 2 weeks later I was on a plane to Anchorage with 2 suitcases and a backpack...to be a domestic violence sexual assault program manager/behavioral health clinician. I loved Seward immediately. The Seward Music & Arts Festival happened my first weekend. And that's when I saw the most handsome man I've ever seen, in Alaska and beyond. Jacob was the first person I was introduced to...and he felt like home immediately. I had never felt so comfortable, at ease, and accepted for being myself than with him....and at that moment, in the words of my aforementioned spirit animal (Jewel), I knew he was "meant for me, and I was meant [him]"...and almost exactly 3 years later, we will be saying "I do."