So, how did two kids who grew up in Texas end up meeting in Pennsylvania and falling in love? Well...that is a good question! Our journey has definitely included some circuitous pathways! After growing up with his family in Fort Worth, Jake embarked on a professional journey in the entertainment industry that led him to work in more than thirty-five countries over the course of ten years while he learned everything he could about sound, lighting, and automation. Meanwhile, after completing high school in Kingwood, Jen pursued an educational pathway throughout the decade of her twenties that took her to Waco, Chicago, Hershey (Pennsylvania), and New Britain (Connecticut), as she studied English literature, historical and systematic theology, and clinical psychology. In 2015, Jen returned to Pennsylvania (Lancaster this time!) to take an exciting job as a psychologist developing integrated behavioral healthcare programs in a large health system. Two years later, unbeknownst to her at the time, a young man named Jacob decided to leave his “touring” days to accept a job offer (doing support integration and eventually controls engineering) at an innovative live entertainment company (that is ironically and beautifully located in the midst of Amish farmland in Lancaster County!). For the following few years, Jake and Jen continued to focus on their work while gradually developing stronger connections within the Lancaster area. Shortly after she bought her cute house in Lancaster City in 2019, Jen decided it was finally time to proactively "get out there" and put some energy into meeting single men who shared her hopes for developing a committed relationship. So, with trepidation but also with support from loving friends and parents, Jen created an online dating profile (eek!). Around the same time, Jake (after feeling settled for awhile in his Lancaster City house that is fortuitously less than one mile from Jen's!) decided that he wanted to search for a relationship with a woman who shared similar goals; thus, he created a profile that happened to be on the same online dating app as Jen's. One day, as Jen was scrolling through the app, she saw Jake. She thought that he might be fun to talk with because it looked like he had some interesting life experiences, and he was also from Texas. So, Jen sent a "hello" message! After some conversational exchanges, Jen and Jake decided to meet at a restaurant located between their homes in Lancaster City. (The picture above is the place where they first met!) Jen will never forget the moment when she walked into the restaurant and saw Jake turn around from the bar to say "hi." She thought to herself, "Oh, no!" because she intuitively realized that she was going to like Jake more than she was emotionally prepared for at that moment. During that first date, Jen and Jake talked for hours (which was a lot longer than the initial plan for "one drink") and laughed a lot. Throughout the next eight months, Jen and Jake enjoyed getting to know each other better when they met periodically for meals (when Jake was in town!) while they each navigated complex work and life demands. And then one day, a new chapter of their relationship started to unfold...

In February of 2020, Jen met Jake’s friends for the first time at a place near and dear to Jake’s heart and home (Molly’s Pub!). Although she initially felt nervous to take this “step” in her relationship with Jake, Jen felt amazed by how well she naturally “fit in” with Jake’s friends. Jen also enjoyed seeing how Jake navigated all of his friendships with genuineness, kindness, and fun. Additionally, Jen reflected on how much she valued and appreciated the way that Jake had consistently expressed his interest in her with unassuming clarity, warmth, and patience throughout the previous eight months. So, at one point during the evening, Jen turned to Jake and told him that she felt ready to give their relationship "a real try,” and Jake said that he felt “so excited to see where this will go!” (The picture above is the first picture that Jen and Jake took together and is from that special night at Molly’s!)

For a few wonderful weeks in late February/early March 2020, Jen and Jake felt excited about how open the "world of possibilities" for their relationship felt! And then, as we all know, the world literally started shutting down. Jake's professional world (live entertainment) came to a screeching halt, while Jen's professional world (behavioral healthcare) ramped up rapidly. As for many, the first few months of COVID were filled with challenges and anxieties. By grace, Jen and Jake found a way to strengthen the foundation of their relationship during this time. They formed a "pod" with Jake's roommates (Mike and Brett) and spent quality time together in the evenings. (Jen will truly forever be grateful for the opportunity she had in that season to strengthen her friendships with Brett and Mike in addition to her relationship with Jake. She will also always be grateful for the delicious meals that Brett cooked in the evenings, for the fact that Mike enjoyed talking about things like character and plot development in Hamilton with her, and for the fact that the guys sometimes walked over to her house to bring her lattes in the middle of her long workdays on the computer!!) Then suddenly, after having more than two months with too little work to do, work took a dramatic turn for Jake as new projects started to "churn" again. As it turned out, Jake ended up needing to work out of town (mostly in Florida and Beijing) for basically an entire year with very little ability to travel back-and-forth to visit home due to COVID restrictions. (If you have never heard Mike and Jake talk about their experience doing a 14-day highly restrictive quarantine in China, you should ask them about that- it was quite the adventure!) Being apart from each other for so long so early in their relationship was certainly less than ideal for Jen and Jake. Different work schedules and time zones did not facilitate the ability to talk much. It was hard. Still, they worked hard to find ways to stay connected, and eventually their schedules started to "normalize." (There were of course some bright spots during that year, such as the event depicted in the above picture when Jake got to come home for a few weeks in the fall of 2020, and he and Jen went to do "fall activities" with Laura and Mike! Mike and Jake "definitely" enjoy fall activities as much as Laura and Jen do- haha!)

One of the things that Jake and Jen have in common is an enjoyment of getting to know new people, places, and cultures. In the summer of 2022, they had the opportunity to travel together to Barcelona, the south of France, and Monaco. It was a wonderful trip filled with beautiful sights, delicious food, and fun experiences! As a special treat, Jake got fancy "pod" airplane seats for Jen and him. (There are definitely some perks of all the airline reward miles he has earned from traveling so much for work over the years- ha! And Jen loved her pod seat so much that she felt like seven hours on the plane each way was not nearly enough time!!) Jake's pod was in front of Jen's, and occasionally she would look up and see him holding up a sweet note for her on his iPad! At one point on the journey, a flight attendant walked up to Jen and said (in a fancy accent): "Excuse me, Ms. Hailey, a Mr. Jacob Obermeier has kindly requested that I deliver this important message to you." And then he handed Jen a folded napkin with the adorable note from Jake written inside it that is in the picture above! (Jen really just wanted to share these photos so everyone can see Jake's "cute" side! She doesn't know how long she'll be able to leave these photos up on this website before Jake finds them and takes them down!!)

Well, since Jen has probably embarrassed Jake by showing everyone how "cute" he can be with the previous photos, she thought she would balance out the cuteness by showing a picture of his "grumpy" face! (This is usually the initial face that Jake makes when Jen asks him to take a selfie- haha!) But the part of their story that this photo represents is actually very sweet. Jake and Jen both celebrated Christmas 2022 at Jen's parents' house with Jen's family. On Christmas Eve, while Jen was upstairs wrapping presents, Jake asked Jen's dad to give him a tour of his new RV (which Jen’s dad happily agreed to do!). While they were outside looking at the RV together, Jake asked Jen's dad for his blessing to propose to Jen. (Jen wasn't there, but she heard this was a meaningful moment for her dad and Jake!) Then, making the day even better, later that evening Jen's brother (Brian) and his wife (Kristen) did a "gender reveal" with the whole family. When they opened a specially-wrapped present with a blue teddy bear inside, everyone was so excited to find out that a precious baby boy would be joining the family in June! It was a special Christmas for the Hailey family!

The engagement story is definitely another story that shows Jake’s “sweet” side! For several months in late 2022/early 2023, Jake and Jen had been talking with Jake’s Aunt Casey about driving out to the Philadelphia area (where she lives) to eat dinner with her. Eventually, they decided on a date in March, and Aunt Casey offered to cook dinner for Jake and Jen at her home. However, two days prior, Aunt Casey texted Jen and Jake and said that her stove broke and she would be unable to get it fixed in time to make them dinner. Jen and Jake said that was no problem at all, and Jake offered to make a dinner reservation for the three of them at “The Love” restaurant in Philadelphia for that evening. (Jen remembers that Jake seemed extra excited for several days about going into Philly, but she thought it was mostly because he loves his Aunt Casey so much (which is very true!) and also felt excited to have a “city excursion” because he had not traveled in months!) Jake and Jen made plans to drive into Philly that Saturday afternoon to get there in time for dinner. However, that Saturday morning, Jen had to take her little dog (Ellie) to an urgent vet appointment because of a cut that had accidentally occurred at the groomer’s the day before and seemed to be getting worse. The vet had to do surgery right away to stitch up the cut, and Ellie needed to be supervised for the rest of the day/night. Jen called Jake from the vet’s office and said that either she would need to stay home with Ellie or they would need to ask Aunt Casey to reschedule the dinner. Jake (who is usually flexible about plans!) was adamant that they would find a way to both go into Philly, and he called his friends David and Lauren to ask if they could watch Ellie (which they graciously did!). So, Jen and Jake rushed to get Ellie to David and Lauren’s house in Lancaster, and they barely made it to the restaurant in Philly on time. During the meal, they had a wonderful time eating delicious food and sharing stories with Aunt Casey. Jen noticed that Jake intentionally brought up more family memories and stories than is normal for him, but she again thought it was just because he was so happy to be talking with his aunt (which was also true!). After they finished the dinner, Jake and Jen walked with Aunt Casey part of the way to her train station, and then Jake asked Jen to take a walk with him through the city. Jen (who hates being cold) initially said: “Jaaaaake, it’s waaaaaay too cold to keep walking!” But somehow, Jake convinced her to keep walking with him. Eventually, they came upon LOVE Park, and Jen ran up to the sign and asked Jake to take her picture there. After he took her picture, Jake came over to Jen, looked at her, and told her that he loves her. At first Jen just thought he was sharing a fun moment of sweetness, but then she realized that he was still talking and saying some seriously sweet things! Then, Jake got down on one knee, pulled a gorgeous ring out of his pocket (that Jen had no idea he had bought!), and asked her to marry him! (Well, Jake and Jen think that’s what Jake asked, anyways. They were both so filled with emotion at that moment that they can’t remember exactly what Jake said- haha!) Whatever Jake asked, Jen said yes! They had a wonderful moment of embrace, and then they asked a man walking by in the park to take their picture (above). On the walk back from the park, Jen suddenly said, “Oh, this is why you wore nice pants today- that should have been my biggest clue!” (It is a rare occurrence for Jake to wear pants other than jeans!) Jake explained that he had worked with his Aunt Casey the week prior to orchestrate a “lie” that would lead to them coming into the city to have an evening “that was all about family and love.” (For those of you who know Jake, you know that him coming up with that theme was pretty darn good! Also, it turns out that his sweet Aunt Casey is a scarily good liar- hahaha!)

One of the things that Jake and Jen have found most exciting about starting the process of merging their lives together is getting to know each other's immediate and extended family members. So far, they have had the privilege of meeting many family members at holidays, weddings, and family reunions. (The picture above was taken at the Obermeier Family Reunion in Virginia Beach in June 2023!) Jen and Jake also cannot wait to meet the family members they have not met yet during the wedding weekend! They both feel very grateful that they are each getting to add such wonderful people to their family circles!

The current season of engagement for Jake and Jen has been filled with doing many fun things to plan for their wedding! For example, in September 2023, Jen and Jake flew to Austin to attend a menu "tasting" at The Retreat (the picture above is them standing outside the Rio Grande Hall where their wedding ceremony will be held!). Jake and Jen's parents, Jake's sister (Molly), and Jen's good friend (Kathryn) were also able to visit the wedding venue with them and join the menu tasting! We believe that we have picked out some tasty food for all our guests for the wedding weekend, and we cannot wait to see you all there!!