Cody and Rachel had been passing each other in life for years prior to actually meeting. Their relationship had been years in the making... they just never realized it. How It Started: Rachel and Cody had been dancing around each other for years prior to meeting. Rachel's best friend, Breanna, and Cody's cousin, Nate (who lived with Cody for a period of time), were dating each other. Eventually, Nate and Breanna got engaged and asked both Cody and Rachel to be in the wedding. A few weeks later, Nate and Breanna had their engagement party. This was the first time Cody and Rachel met... without officially meeting! A year later, Nate would find a selfie Cody took of himself, Rachel, and Breanna... But neither of them remember taking it! In retrospect, that was the first official photo the couple ever actually took together. First Actual "Encounter": Rachel turned 18 and decided to download the dating app Bumble. She had absolutely no intention of finding a relationship... she simply "wanted a self-esteem boost" and "downloaded it because swiping seemed fun and she could do it now that she was eighteen." She had it for a few weeks, messaging with a few different people from hours away in a very casual sense. Then, a guy from Coldwater, Ohio popped up. Curiosity got the cat, and Rachel bit. This guy from Coldwater was Cody Tebbe. They talked for a few weeks on Bumble. Rachel made it clear she was not looking for a relationship, wanting to finish out her senior year of high school single, and Cody made it clear he was not looking for anything serious at the moment either. (Rachel had not told Breanna about this since she wanted nothing serious. Cody did not tell Nate for the same reason.) Over the course of these few weeks, Rachel would go to visit her "best friend and her fiance in Columbus:" and Cody would go visit "His cousin and his fiance in Columbus." No names were spoken, and no connection was made. The First Date: After a few weeks of talking, Rachel realized she was starting to catch feelings. Cody started to realize the same. Rachel decided it was time actually to meet in person, and she asked Cody to go with her to Spirit Halloween in Muncie. Cody agreed, and the two traveled to Spirit Halloween and then had Texas Roadhouse. Rachel did not realize it was an actual date until Cody grabbed the bill at the restaurant! The two had a great time, exchanged actual information, and agreed to do it again. The Connection At Last: Finally, Rachel decided to tell Breanna about this guy that she had now officially gone on a date with. She called Breanna and started the conversation with "There's this guy from Coldwater I am talking to kinda seriously. We've gone on a date. He's a few years older than me and goes by Tebbe." She was met with silence on the other end. Finally, Breanna spoke up "Rachel, what is his first name?" Rachel wasn't quite sure why this was relevant, but responded with "Cody." Breanna started laughing on the other side of the phone, and Rachel was very confused. Breanna finally said, "Rachel, Cody is Nate's cousin. They lived together for a while and are practically brothers. You are both in our wedding parties!" In The End: Rachel and Cody grew their relationship from scratch, only to find out they had an amazing connection a few weeks later. They like to call their meeting the "jump start" since, a few months later, they would have met at the wedding! There are sometimes things work as a coincidence and there are sometime's things are clearly a sign from God... this was one of those times.