Sam spent two years at the University of Illinois doing Army ROTC with Jessica's brother, Tommy, before Jessica came as well and also joined the ROTC program. Jessica and Sam built a friendship consisting of unsanctioned explorations of the Armory and Steam Tunnels, late night studying, occasional partying (first known pic together at 2010 Halloween Party), and competing together in several ROTC clubs before he awkwardly asked her out. He attempted to pop the question at a nice steakhouse following a run club workout while still wearing recently salt-stained running clothes. He couldn't gather the nerve, so he asked the next day at Panera instead... Solid start to the next 14.5 years!

After a fun two years together in college, we went through 6 years of long-distance dating while Jessica finished her degree and began working at a Tech Startup in Chicago and Sam was away in the Army and later living in Springfield, Illinois as he started his manufacturing career.

Our long distance saga came to an end when Sam worked his way back to Chicago in 2018. It was around this time that our world travels together kicked off, taking our first big trip to Greece together. In the following years we expanded our travels and experiences greatly, taking 15 international trips to 22 different countries, not to mention domestic trips to Alaska, California, Florida, New York, Utah, and our many visits to family all over the country.

During the hardest time of our lives while we struggled through Appa's illness and the pandemic, Sam decided to propose so that he could get Appa's approval and we could have the option to get married while Appa was still alive. It was during the depths of the pandemic on a chilly November evening, while Appa was being cared for at home. Sam arranged some gas heaters for the backyard, cooked a "delicious" steak dinner and told Jessica to dress her finest for a backyard meal. He booked a photographer to act like he was doing landscape photography next door, then he dropped to a knee and tearfully popped the question. Jessica said yes, and while we decided not to rush a wedding, we were comforted knowing Appa and Grandad both knew of our engagement prior to their passing.

In typical Sam fashion, he did a crash course in Gemology, found a trustworthy Asian family owned jewelry store on Jeweler's Row and designed the ring, without seeking any advice in the process. He chose an oval cut diamond to go with Jessica's stick thin fingers and paired his Grandma Hazen's engagement diamond with a matching one to go on the sides.

Over the last few years, we've established a new normal, upgraded our living situation in Chicago, continued building our careers, found a shared joy in running and restarted our world travels. We're so happy to force our joy of travel onto y'all as we celebrate our Marriage in one of our favorite places, Tuscany!