Jacob and Christie met on Hinge and hit it off right away! We bonded over our varying degrees of nerdiness and adventurousness. Plants, data, nature, world traveling, outdoor hobbies, fantasy novels, etc. ‎ • ‎ Because of covid restrictions, our early dates consisted of all sorts of fun outdoor activities: beers on patios, picnics at the park, swimming in lakes, drive-in movies, ice cream runs, neighborhood walks, and even horseback riding! These continue to be some of our favorite ways to spend time together.

After 2 short months of dating, we decided to put our relationship to the test with a 7 hour road trip down to Sunriver where we worked remotely for a week in a two room cabin. Jacob showed Christie all his favorite spots and we shared our memories from going there as kids, wondering if we might have ever been there at the same time. We explored the trails on bikes, pet the horses, learned about lava flows, and did our best to avoid the wildfire smoke ‎ • ‎ Lucky for us, our relationship didn't only survive the trip, but thrived ♡

We went to our first wedding together in France! (cheers Coline & Alexis!) This was our first trip together out of the country and became known as our inaugural "annual honeymoon." ‎ • ‎ Christie really appreciated that Jacob was game to fly across the world to celebrate two people he had never even met, and spend multiple days with all their family and friends! ‎ • ‎ Also the backstory for one of Jacob's favorite catchphrases which many of you have had the pleasure of hearing over the years: "we summer in France"

After helping Christie move in/out of 3 different apartments over the course of their 2 years of dating, Jacob asked her to move in with him ‎ • ‎ Was it out of love or an effort to put an end to his unpaid manual labor? We may never know ‎ • ‎ We loved living in our top floor "treehouse" in Madison Valley, Seattle. Eating on our balcony (no matter how cold it was), going on neighborhood walks to check the status of everyone's flower and vegetable gardens, searching for the elusive urban mini horses, and picnicing, paddleboarding, and running in the Arboretum were some of our favorite activities here

We decided we really liked being roommates and thought we should make it permanent by buying a house! We have been loving exploring our new neighborhood: seeing everyone's beautiful gardens, attending community events (ex: winning our neighborhood soup competition), visiting local parks and restaurants, running and walking on all the different trails, documenting all the birds and wildlife we see, hanging out in our backyard, and customizing our house to fit us and turn it into our home!

We adopted a dog! We have known Remi since she was a puppy and loved dog sitting her over the years, so we were overjoyed when we found out we could adopt her! ‎ • ‎ She loves looking out our extra-low windows, barking at the kids walking to the school bus, wrestling in the yard with Jacob, chasing bunnies, welcoming visitors to the house, and especially swimming in the lake down the street. She made our little family complete!

After carrying a ring all the way to Italy and back, Jacob decided it was the right time to ask Christie to marry him on a weekend trip to Whidbey Island ‎ • ‎ Did she immediately cry? Yes. Did he have to remind her to answer the question? Yes. And did she say yes? YES!!!