Depending on who you ask, Monica and Jeff met in two entirely different ways. Mon would say it was at a bar one night in November, sometime before Thanksgiving 2016. Jeff would say no, it was in the very small, close-knit German class we BOTH TOOK during the previous winter term at U of O. (Mon has no idea what he is talking about.) What Monica and Jeff agree on is that it was in 2016. Mon, 22, was in her senior year at the University of Oregon and Jeff, 23, was working in Eugene and figuring out his next step in life. After the night in the bar, Jeff asked Mon to go out several times and was always told she was busy. (She really was busy!) So, it was to Jeff’s great surprise that, about a month later, Mon texted him “wanna grab that drink tonight?” That evening, Mon was late because she got lost, and Jeff almost left the bar, thinking he’d been stood up. Luckily, he waited just long enough, and in the end, they stayed at the bar talking until it closed at 2am. In August 2017, Jeff and Mon went on their first road trip to Yellowstone National Park, before embarking on a nearly seven-month trip to Asia. Mon also applied/was accepted to law school at Michigan State, so in August 2018 they packed up and moved to East Lansing, Michigan. For Jeff’s 26th birthday, Jeff and Mon went to the local animal shelter where their dog Ollie was waiting for them – and hasn’t left their side since. Mon finished the second half of law school during the pandemic and took the bar (virtually) in July 2021. While waiting for her result, Jeff, Ollie, and Mon embarked on a two-month road trip across the U.S. In October, Mon found out she passed, and in November, Jeff and Mon found jobs and an apartment in Chicago. Jeff works at a wellness clinic and is preparing to apply to physical therapy programs in the area, and Mon practices at a firm downtown that represents unions. In February 2022, Jeff and Mon decided to go ice-skating under the stars at Millennium Park. Out on the ice, Jeff got down on one knee and. . . a very happy Mon said YES!!