Welcome to our beginning

Run-in #1 - Jeff and Rachel went to high school together but were not high school sweethearts. We ran with different crowds, although senior year we connected one night in Ocean City during Beach Week at my Grandmother's beach house of all places... We had a blast but that night came and went, leaving both with a little crush. Run-in #2 - Fast forward 4 years to winter break of 2013, we run into each other at Olney's greatest bar, The Greene Turtle. We hit it off once again and shared a kiss at the end of the evening. The crush had amplified but again, that night came and went. The DM - In the Fall of 2019, Rachel got a random DM on Instagram from Jeff. The message read "it's so amazing seeing you pursue your dreams and killing it. I hope everything is great!" It was the most random message after going 6+ years without contact. Rachel excitedly responded and Jeff invited her to a Natty Boh party at groomsman Matt Hough's (attaboy Tiger)! Rach lived in Chicago so she couldn’t go but offered to get together over Christmas that winter. Run-in #3 (The final run-in) - Dec. 2019: This time around it was Rachel who initiated the hangout and worked up the courage to invite Jeff to join her family for drinks. Jeff got in an Uber and headed on his way. Amidst the uber ride, Rachel texted Jeff saying, "act like I didn't invite you and that it's just a coincidence that you're here." After being dropped off, Jeff confidently proceeded to act like he just happened to be there. Jeff finally got Rachel's attention and she came over with her opera acting skills on hand saying "JEFF PORTER!? Come have a drink with my family!" After hitting it off with both Rachel... and Rachel's mom Sharon... it was time to walk over to where else but Greene Turtle. Rachel headed back to Chicago but this time something was different. Rachel got a message from Jeff's best man Connor saying he was "smitten as a kitten". And then....Covid hit and Rachel came back to Maryland to quarantine. After a spring and summer of flirting via text and snapchat (cool, right?), Jeff finally asked Rachel to go out on a proper date. We went to Top Golf where Jeff quickly found out Rachel was not an athlete. After this official first date, we knew we had something special and Jeff wasn't going to let this end like the previous two run-ins. So, he bought tickets to fly out to Chicago a few months later. That Saturday, they spent the entire day in Winnemac Park and it was the day Jeff fell in love with Rachel. The weekend was perfect. So much so that Jeff told work his flight was cancelled to spend one extra day with her. Then Rachel flew home the very next weekend to make sure this wasn't the end. Little did we know, it was only the beginning. Life is funny. Rachel and Jeffs' lives have been weaving in and out for many, many years. Sometimes we laugh at lost time but we wouldn’t change a thing. Timing is everything and life certainly works in the most beautiful and mysterious ways.

Anyone who knows Rachel, knows it's really hard to slide a surprise by her. Jeff was up for the challenge. While Rachel was traveling overseas for work, she noticed Jeff was ring shopping on the 'find my iphone app' (low-key stalker vibes) but she knew it would be the perfect time for him to go while she was out of town. She asked her now bridesmaid Zoe, who she was staying with in London, to secretly message Jeff to see if she could get some information. He told Zoe not to tell Rachel anything as it would be months before he finalized everything. She obviously told Rachel (this is what girlfriends are for!) so, Rachel thought for sure it would be happening mid-summer. Fast forward to their camping trip Memorial Day Weekend. No makeup, no nails, nothing! Rachel stepped away from the campsite momentarily and upon her return, Maisie, their pup was wearing a bandana that she couldn't read from far away. Rachel got closer and asked what she was wearing, to which Jeff replied "a tablecloth." A tablecloth?! Rachel finally realized it read "Will you marry my Dad?" She honestly could not comprehend that this was the moment. She turned around, and there he was, down on one knee. All Rachel could say was "wait, what?!" holding her head in disbelief, before saying yes. She wanted that moment to last forever feeling in complete shock. Rachel had it engrained in her head that this would happen later in the summer thinking there was no way Jeff would lie to Zoe about his plans. Turns out, Jeff knows Rachel better than she realizes. Jeff knew that Rachel wanted a proposal out in nature but nothing too public. We had one witness - an old man from the campsite across from us, who watched it happen and couldn't get over it for the next 2 days. Our parents knew it would be happening that weekend and no one spilled the beans. It was perfection in every way.