our greatest adventure begins

For two people that held residence less than a mile from one another in San Francisco, Torri and Jeff strangely met seven thousand miles away in Sydney, Australia. This serendipitous encounter was the work of the officiant, Justin Fibich, who invited the Maid of Honor, Kayla Christenson, and the bride to join his group of traveling friends for brunch, a day at the races, and rosé. This group fatefully included the groom. Jeff was immediately taken with Torri's beauty and quick wit. Torri and Jeff laughed together at the group's invariably dumb jokes, Jeff casually made flirting comments towards Torri, and both just generally enjoyed the sunshine as they watched the unfolding yacht race from the restaurant at Watson Bay's coastline. Of course, neither Torri or Jeff knew this chance encounter would lead to each gaining the love of their life. The day continued to the horse races at the Royal Randwick. Amusingly, both Torri and Jeff were upset at continually losing their race bets, not knowing how much they had actually won that day (hint: love). Jeff continued his efforts to capture Torri's heart. These efforts seemed well-received. Following the races, the group set out to the world-famous Ivy Club for a night out on the town. Jeff made his decisive move for Torri's heart - while some may dispute the quality of his dance moves, Jeff steadfastly maintains that it was in fact his dance moves that finally wooed Torri. Interestingly, Torri does not share this conclusion. Regardless, Torri was wooed by Jeff, however it happened. The flirtations and courtship continued the remainder of their time in Australia. Love was blossoming. While both wanted their Australian sojourn to be without end, thankfully, this summer love had a chance to continue in San Francisco. Jeff, in a state of good judgment, invited Torri to dinner immediately upon her return to the City by the Bay. The love was obvious by this point and, as they say, Torri and Jeff lived happily ever after.

This story starts with Jeff getting a famous phrase backwards - the young man went east instead. Unfortunately, Torri was not able to decamp to New York City with Jeff, so 2,500 miles of flyover country separated their love for several months. During this separation, Jeff had planned a homecoming to cheer on Cal against Torri's alma mater, ASU, and to hold a Going Away party the next day. Torri was unaware of Jeff's true intentions - the Going Away party was to be an Engagement party. Jeff had quietly schemed in the background, securing the blessing of Torri's state champion father, Tony, months before the Manhattan move during a round at Foxtail Golf Club, which was represented to Torri as nothing more than a casual golf outing. It was not. Tony's involvement as accomplice didn't stop at the hard-won blessing - Jeff recognized his own shortcomings in jewelry design and enlisted Tony's help to design the engagement ring. The end product was a symbol of love from not only Jeff, but her father as well. The ring, shrouded in romantic and familial love, was assured to be simply perfect in Torri’s eyes. The weekend arrived and started poorly for Jeff as the Sun Devils crushed the Bears and added injury to insult when Cal’s QB went down. The next morning came far too early as Torri and Jeff needed to stake their claim to a picnic table at ever-popular Chrissy Field before the sun rose. Torri also seized the opportunity to gloat further by donning head-to-toe ASU sweats. As the couple gazed at the beauty of the bay as the sun began its ascent, both talked about how much they would miss their true home and the adventures in the Big Apple to come. Perhaps coincidentally or perhaps definitely planned, a series of love songs began to play. One singer crooned about his "big big plans" to propose to the love of his life. The foreshadowing was clear. Torri looked away at the sunrise and when she looked back, Jeff was down on one knee asking for her to marry him. She said yes.