It all started on Tinder. Both Jess and Shy had forgotten that they knew each other about a decade before. High School? A relic of the distant past.

We'll answer your questions before you ask. Did either one of you expect a random Tinder date to turn into a wedding? Absolutely not. Are you thrilled it did? For sure. Who messaged first? Jess. She's shameless, and we have the receipts. Does Shy still make fun of Jess for ignoring his texts and pushing off their first date for a month? Totally. Is Jess STILL salty that he didn't kiss her on their first date? 1000%. It comes up frequenty.

Now that we’ve gotten the low hanging fruit out of the way, Shy asked Jess on a date to a cute little bistro called Anima Cucina. Conveniently, it was a block away from where she worked. Their 6PM start time was thwarted when Jess drove home at 5PM to “change clothes” after work. This entailed changing into four outfits, angrily throwing them around her closet, FaceTiming both of her sisters, then putting on the original outfit she wore to work and pretending like she “didn’t have time” to change because she was “so busy.” Between the second and third outfit change, Shy had arrived to the date early, as he does. He texted Jess and said that they needed to meet at Peacock Alley instead. Naturally, she responded to his text without fully reading it first and showed up at the wrong place. Unlucky for Jess, Peacock was across the street from Anima, and he watched her, not only walk into the wrong restaurant, but also angrily rush out after actually reading his text, because she was… about ten minutes late.

Despite the rough start, the date went surprisingly well, in a way neither expected it to. Dinner moved to drinks, and Shy happily answered questions about his prior encounters with the law, all vetted by Jess before the date started and explained away by Shy with hilarious stories. Was it fate that the bar’s playlist was mostly early 2000s pop and Taylor Swift? Maybe. As they were leaving for the night, Jess forgot her phone in the bathroom, and Shyler forgot a goodnight kiss.

Since that day, Shy and Jess have traveled as much as their schedules allow — both together and together with friends; acquired the sweetest (and largest) puppy; and watched nearly every cooking show available on both cable and streaming. They’ve chased Michelin stars and jumped out of planes. Their favorite trips, however, include national parks. Shy asked Jess to marry him at Glacier Point in Yosemite in May of 2024, and while it may have been the easiest question she’s ever answered, she was somehow still surprised.

Together, they’ve only been to six national parks. We’re asking you, our favorite family and friends, to join us in Colorado and see (lucky?) number seven.