Thank you for being a part of our special day!

It all started with cookies and brownies... Shortly after Stephanie moved from NYC to Chicago in 2020, she (and her bestie/roommate, Kellee) brought cookies and brownies to all of their new neighbors to introduce themselves. Jake's apartment was the final stop on the hello tour and lets just say the most entertaining. When the girls knocked on the door Metallica was blaring from inside and Jake yelled, "What, I'm working out!". He opened the door with ankle weights, a resistance band around his thighs, long hair (think Richard Simmons), and a BIG beard. Though, the furthest thing from love at first sight, not long after Summer started, Stephanie knew there was something there. :)

Delays, delays, delays….from Jake’s point of view. The stone was due in early October but it was coming from India via NYC diamond district and was delayed for several weeks due Indian/Hindu holidays. Then Dan Christian proposed to Robbin Osbourne in late October when I had loosely planned to propose. It was going to be spur of the moment—so much so the bottles of champagne I had been keeping on ice in the trunks of all 3 of my cars just had to wait. We were due to spend thanksgiving in Savannah with the Waite family so we had planned to go to the South Carolina v Tennessee game in Columbia while en route the weekend before. Parker flew in to Charlotte Saturday morning so we could pick him up on the way to Columbia. Early Saturday morning we were on the way to pick up Parker, and right on schedule…I had to go to the bathroom. I popped in to one of my home-to/from-airport go-to pit-stops which is almost exactly half-way—Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet (the flagship dealer of the Earnhardt family). Steph had been wanting an inexpensive Timex watch for some time (just like her Dad wears on the farm), so when I hopped back into the car I handed her a Timex watch box. She opening the box, and was excited about the $20 gold watch she saw inside. It took her a few moments to actually notice the >$20 ring which I had hidden inside the watch band. I walked around the front of the car, opened her door, and took a knee. Steph finally said something like “yes, but seriously…is it a real ring?” We proceeded to pop a bottle of champagne in the front parking lot of the dealership and fill our flutes. We picked up Parker (just a few minutes late) and bought some more champagne for the ~2 hour drive to Columbia. We witnessed the gamecocks beat the vols from amazing seats. TCU also beat Baylor that afternoon en route to an undefeated season and a national championship appearance. Best day ever!