We can't wait to celebrate with you

Our story began back in 2017 during syllabus week at Penn State. Our mutual friend, Matt, was throwing a 21st birthday party for his roommate, Joe. Mark walked into the party and Jen was the first person he saw. Introductions were exchanged but it wasn't until Indigo Thursday where we had our first conversation over $1 Long Island Iced Teas. A short wind romance ensued! We would sit on the floor of Jen's small apartment and talk about our families and future careers while listening to Mark's adventure playlist. While this only lasted a few weeks, our lives would somehow remained intertwined for the next few years. Fast forward to 2020. Jen was traveling back home to Harrisburg after a medical school interview in Michigan. She posted a picture of the sunrise at the Chicago airport during her layover. At the time, Mark was living in Chicago so he saw the post and reached out to Jen to see what brought her to town. Shortly after that, the pandemic hit and the world was on lockdown. Like most of the world, we now had a lot of free time on our hands. We spent this free time texting for days on end. Texting turned into FaceTimes, which would last hours. Soon, we were the first person we thought of when we woke up in the morning and the last person we spoke to when we went to bed in the evening. Come July, Jen moved to Michigan to begin medical school. Mark wasted no time buying Jen a train ticket to come visit him in Chicago. The stories and laughs we shared virtually were now shared face to face. Jen met Cleo and they all enjoyed walking through Grant Park and exploring different parts of the city. One week later, Mark would ask Jen to be his girlfriend; in the cheesiest way possible might I add: "Jen, will you go steady with me?" For the first few years, our relationship consisted of week or month-long stints either in Chicago or East Lansing, Michigan. Soon, our trio turned into a quartet as Louis came into the picture! This is when we truly saw a family forming. After 2 years of long-distance dating, Mark moved to Michigan as Jen began her medical school rotations in metro-Detroit. One year into our life in Michigan together, Mark would propose to Jen in the Hall of Trees within the Stony Creek Metropark. 10-months later, we moved to Philly and the rest is history.