We met at Jersey Shore High School, where we are both teachers, Jake being a history teacher, and Sophia being a special ed teacher. Although we worked in the same building for an entire year, we officially started talking on the last day of school when a group of teachers went out for a celebratory lunch. Sophia was talking to one of our friends, and our friend asked if she had ever talked to Jake. Other than a few hellos or waves when passing each other in the hallway, neither of us had really spoken to each other. Our friend began to talk up Jake and suggested that he come over so that we could officially "meet". Sophia, being single, had no objections. Knowing Jake's family, our friend got him over to our table by saying "Jake, how's your mom doing?". We quickly began talking and immediately hit it off. Jake bought Sophia a drink and before we knew it, 2 hours had passed. Before leaving, we exchanged numbers and Jake invited Sophia to go out with the same group of teachers the next night after prom. The next night, we went out for drinks at the same place, being the first ones to show up and the last to leave, enjoying every moment together. When it was time to leave, we made plans to hang out on Wednesday of that week, but we couldn't even wait that long, so we ended up getting together on Monday for our first official date (no others around).

When Jake showed up at Sophia's house to pick her up for their first date, he brought flowers and opened the door for her. From that moment, Sophia knew he was a keeper. Jake took us to the water authority mountain, and we enjoyed a beautiful hike together. After the hike, neither of us wanted to part ways, so we went to the Brickyard for appetizers and drinks. Despite being told to never bring home a guy on the first date, Sophia invited Jake to come over afterwards. Although we had both been on dates in the past, neither of us had ever felt this in love before. Our night couldn't end yet. When we got back, we had some more drinks and snacks and chatted for hours. From that first date, we knew we were meant to be. Only one month passed before we said "I love you" for the first time, and by the second month, we had both confessed that we wanted to be with each other the rest of our lives.

After one year of being together, we decided to celebrate by taking a vacation to the Finger Lakes and Schroon Lake, which is up in the Adirondack mountains. The first day we drove up to Seneca lake and enjoyed many of their wineries, staying in a cozy Airbnb. The next day, we drove up north to Schroon Lake, where we would be staying for the rest of our vacation. We stayed in a beautiful cabin just outside of the town and enjoyed hikes, swimming, breweries, and exploring the lake towns. On the third day of our vacation, Jake proposed on top of a mountain that we hiked. It was perfect-no audience, just us, and of course the beautiful mountains around us, just like our first date.