We're getting married!

8,190 miles separated Joey and Simone the night they first met in August 2021. Joey had just gotten off work in Auckland, while Simone was taking shots with friends at an apartment in Chicago. Neither of them knew that a simple FaceTime call that night would lead to a year and a half long, long-distance relationship before they ever met in person. Enter Cupid: Joey’s sister, Christina. Christina was with her college best friend, Simone, that night and discovered she was single. Years earlier, Christina had shown Joey a photo of Simone, and it didn’t take long for him to become completely smitten. So, being the matchmaker she is, Christina started hyping Joey up to Simone and, after a few drinks, convinced her to FaceTime him. But Joey, like any good brother, ignored the call, assuming it was just his sister trying to bother him. Without realizing it, he had almost missed his chance to meet Simone. Knowing her brother well, Christina quickly followed up with a text: “Pick up, Simone is single.” ...Joey immediately replied, “Call me back.” The three of them chatted on FaceTime that night, and from then on, Joey and Simone spent the next year and a half calling each other from 8,190 miles apart before finally meeting in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California for the very first time. It was there, in November 2025, that Joey proposed... and Simone said, "Yes!"