Ijaz and I met through my best friend and maid of honor, Rebecca Cole around Valentine's day 2020. She had been telling me for weeks prior about this new friend she met and how badly she wanted me to meet him and that we'd hit it off. Once we met there was a connection I couldn't explain, and when I left I found myself missing something. Whatever there was between us wasn't over. And Rebecca kept telling me about this guy and that she felt that one day we'd be married and that she'd found my husband - we'd only met once so I thought she was crazy! As Covid began to spread rapidly and everything was shutting down, there were increasingly limited things to or places to go, but he and I began a conversation. As he lived in Madison and I was in Milwaukee we were also limited by distance, but somehow we made it work! We began to go for long drives, walks, and hikes, finding new places to explore each time. We probably found about a dozen or so trails, parks, and conservatories and just enjoyed nature, conversation, and each other's company. Ijaz went kayaking for the first time with me, and I was expanding my palette as he made me all sorts of Pakistani food. Our friendship and relationship grew quickly over the next several months and we just knew that we wanted to be married and that we were for each other - who knew Rebecca could actually see the future! About mid November he proposed and I was ecstatic! With all the Covid craziness we debated what to do, and decided that we were going to have a small Covid wedding, and then a bigger one later the next year to celebrate with everybody else. We had a small Pakistani ceremony December 5th 2020 at Menomonee Park with a few immediate family and friends which was put together in about a week, but it was so beautiful. And now in just another short time we have the opportunity to celebrate our marriage again with all of you and I am so very excited to share our joy and God's blessings together on a beautiful June day!