The hunt is over!

Both of us swiped right! We had crossed paths on Tinder, and I don’t think either of us were expecting to be married 5 short years later! After talking and getting to know each other for a while, we decided to meet for the first time at the Veteran's Memorial Park in Bay City, MI. It was a Sunday, I (Jake) was fishing when Abby walked up. We walked the boardwalk as the sun went down over the city and had our first kiss by the riverside. Abby’s mom was worried as she had never met me at this point and online dating is somewhat terrifying! It didn’t take long to feel like a part of the family especially after Abby’s Grandpa Larry tied my shoes together at our first Thanksgiving together. Her Grandma Raeann must have had a feeling about me though because that was when she offered a stone from Abby’s Great Grandmother’s ring to me for a proposal! Mind you, we had only dated for 5 months at this point. I was taken back, but shortly after that dinner was when I started a savings account under the inconspicuous name of “rent” towards a ring. I could write a novel on our lives together so far and I can't wait to start the sequel!

We decided to try out the crazy adventure of love and devoted ourselves to one another. After the first year of dating, we moved into an apartment together in Essexville. There we got our first fur baby, Layla, our cat. We had countless memories together in that tiny apartment as well as on the road visiting Wisconsin to see Jake's family. After four years together, we bought our first home! Three days after moving into our new home, we adopted our sweet boy Jameson the dog of our dreams! Abby went on her first airplane flight with me when we visited Nevada and California together for the 2019 Wentworth family reunion. After five years together, we adopted Liberty, our third fur baby who is crazy in love with her brother Jameson.

Abby was under the impression we were taking a weekend trip up to Harbor Springs to visit our friend Hunter. What Abby didn't realize was the eventful vacation I had planned for weeks. I had mentioned we would be stopping in Petoskey for a fancy dinner with Hunter and few other friends, so we were to dress nice on the way up north. Although, that was just my excuse to get Abby to dress up. I told Abby we were also going to stop in Boyne City on the way there, which is our favorite place in the summer. Twice a year Abby and I visit Boyne City in the summer to shoot their fireworks for Fourth of July and to camp during Labor Day weekend. However, that year we were not going to be able to visit at all. So, I had planned for us to stop in Boyne City before going to "dinner". We arrived at Young State Park, which is where we camp every year, just before sunset and started walking the beach when I stopped faced towards the water stepped back down on one knee. This is where our forever started. Hidden within the sandy hills, our friends Hunter and Mrs. Gracy were capturing our special moment on camera. It was picture perfect and there was no other place I wanted to propose. I had planned on proposing there since her first trip in 2016.