Throughout my childhood, I’ve always had a small social circle, and even before graduating high school, I longed for that special someone. Being new to the dating scene and somewhat introverted, I felt most comfortable setting up an online dating profile. Luckily, I met Isabella, who is the most wonderful person I have ever met. She is enchanting and interesting, bringing out the best in me and inspiring me to improve myself. In the spring of 2022, I wanted to impress her on our first date, so I took her to a high-end steakhouse in Ocean City. Some might say I was crazy for spending so much, but I knew I wasn’t going anywhere after that dinner. I was completely mesmerized by her, and every subsequent date reinforced this feeling. The fun and adventures we’ve had while dating are my most precious memories: metal-detecting on the beach at sunset, magnet fishing in a random creek, or just watching a movie. I knew that if I stayed with her, there would be no shortage of special, unforgettable moments. Isabella’s strong core values and character were evident early on. Combined with her supportive nature, intelligence, and stunning beauty, I realized what a perfect life partner she would be. She has always checked in with me and my needs; and her excitement and passion for things like making me lunch or breakfast, though seemingly small, mean the most to me. By the second half of our first year together, I knew she was my future wife, I just didn’t wanna weird anyone out by asking too soon. I feel incredibly fortunate to have found my soulmate and can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with Isabella.

Joseph and I met online in the spring of 2022. I wish I had some amazing story about how I knew he was the one from the moment I laid eyes on him, but in reality, I swiped on his Tinder profile because of the picture. He was holding his big beautiful dog, Harbaugh and just looked like a genuinely nice guy (and he was 6’4”). Joseph initiated a conversation (he will tell you I slid into his DMs first but nah), and I quickly learned how intelligent and quick-witted he was.

When I first met Joseph, I was 19 and not expecting to meet my future husband on Tinder. However, life had different plans (obviously) and I couldn’t be more happy with how that worked out . It wasn't one grand gesture or single event that made me realize I wanted to spend forever with JoJo. Instead, it was a collection of smaller, everyday moments that revealed Josephs true magnificent character.

Becoming best friends, embarking on random side quests together, discovering our shared interests, hobbies, and values, Joseph consistently demonstrating what an incredible person he is through his actions and reactions to what life can throw– all of these things solidified my feelings. Joseph is the most patient, thoughtful, and generous person I know, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be marrying such an awesome guy.

Chloe: AJ and I first became acquainted after simultaneously killing each other in June, 2020. After being sent home from college due to covid, we had both joined a group of about 75 other Princeton students for a week-long virtual “Mafia” game. After making it to the final 12 players, AJ (a siren) and I (a vampire) unfortunately met our untimely end (I guess you could say it was love at first *BITE*!). Fortunately, we were then added to a group chat with the other dead players, and a very romantic, non-aggressive conversation ensued:

AJ: I had thought that that would be the end of it, but to my surprise, Chloe slid into my DMs later that day! She’ll vehemently deny this if asked, but Facebook Messenger has the receipts.

Chloe: I only “slid into his DMs” to tell him to stop sending me embarrassing videos of himself singing. (Editor’s note: AJ only sang In Da Club because Chloe requested it)

AJ: Our first “date” was playing Poptropica over Zoom. After a few months of only talking online, we decided to finally meet up in person. At the time, I was living in New Jersey and she was living in Maryland, so we decided to meet up in Delaware! Soon, hanging around the Blue Hen State became a weekend tradition for us. Our favorite spot was Rehoboth Beach, where we spent all of our money playing arcade games - especially Pearl Fisher. (Editor’s note: Some people think that it’s called Pearl FisherY, but the Y is actually a coral).

AJ: It wasn’t long before everyone was allowed to go back to campus, but due to social distancing restrictions, we were only allowed to visit people in our “family unit”. Now, if “family unit” had been defined as married or engaged, I might have proposed to Chloe right then and there. But as it turned out, we were allowed to just be boyfriend and girlfriend. What we weren’t allowed to do was leave campus for a midnight snack. Luckily, Chloe came up with a brand new dessert - the hot apple! It was so good that I still ask her to make this delicacy to this day.

Chloe: I still don’t understand why he likes it so much, because it’s literally just an apple in a microwave (Editor’s note: plus a seCret INgredieNt thAt we Might have cOncealed withiN this sentence).

For the rest of college, we got to spend a ton of time together on campus and made so many great memories, like sledding down the Whitman hill on cardboard boxes, dancing the night away at semi formals, and hanging out in AJ’s summer apartment above the taco place just north of campus (which always smelled really good and made us really hungry).

After we graduated, I moved to Baltimore for a research job and to get my master’s, and AJ got a software engineering job with the Phillies. We’ve had an amazing time visiting each other in our two cities for the past 3 years, from discovering the absolute best cafe in Bmore (shoutout to Blueprint) to co-founding Cheesesteak-A-Palooza* 2024 in Philly.

*eating 6 cheesesteaks in a row

AJ: Early last year, Chloe pretty much knew I was going to ask her to marry me (probably because we had picked out a ring together). I thought I had come up with the perfect way to propose. I snuck into her lab at work and arranged some cells in the shape of an engagement ring!

Just kidding - the cells did that on their own at the exact moment I was setting up the real proposal. Total coincidence! The real story is that one of our favorite places to walk is a nature trail that leads to a grocery store where we usually pick out a treat for the walk back.

In the middle of the trail there’s a bench with a little compartment, and in the compartment is a journal where people write all kinds of things. We had sat down and read through the journal a few times, so I thought it would be the perfect idea to write a lovely note for Chlo to find. In theory, she would be so wooed that there would be no way she could say no!

But when we arrived at the bench together a couple of hours later, the journal was gone! It turns out that every so often, someone takes the journal when it’s filled up and replaces it with a new one, and I just so happened to write my note on the exact day it was getting swapped out.

Chloe: There’s a pretty good chance that he couldn’t think of what to write and just threw the book out to get off the hook for having to write something romantic. But then again, he did act pretty shocked that it was gone.

AJ: So I decided to wing it! There was no turning back, because I had made reservations at a restaurant and in the section where they asked you if you were celebrating anything, I had clicked on “just engaged!”. So it would’ve been kind of awkward if things had gone south. Luckily, Chloe said yes, so it all worked out.

Chloe: I would say that the past five years together have worked out wonderfully! I’ve really enjoyed bouncing between 4 different states with my soulmate, and I’m looking forward to spending the next chapter of our lives together in a different country!


AJ: That’s right, because Chloe’s going to get her PhD at Oxford!  So I guess I’m going to follow her to England, because we are soulmates, after all.


Chloe: But before that happens, we hope to see you all for Wedding Night on the Farm!