The beginning of Jesse and Lindsay’s story dates back to the beginning of Spring Semester 2013 at Valparaiso University, in the first class of Religion in American History, where the two sat next to each other. Lindsay had just transferred from TCU, and Jesse had only a semester at Valpo under his belt.

From that first class, Jesse and Lindsay were either studying together in a study room in the campus library, or playing pong in the basement of Phi Sig, or out and about on campus. Although they weren’t dating at the time, Jesse and Lindsay spent a great deal of their undergraduate years with each other.

When graduation came around, they both went their separate ways. Jesse moved to Sheridan, Wyoming for his first meteorological job, while Lindsay stayed in the area to focus on her Masters degree and begin her work in child welfare.

Fate would bring these two together again in late 2017 when Jesse moved back home after leaving his job in Wyoming. While living in Illinois, Jesse and Lindsay reconnected, and it wasn’t long before they became official.

Just as soon as they got together, job opportunities would put distance between them once again. Jesse took another meteorological position in Maryland in early 2019 and their relationship was once again put on hold.

Cue the pandemic in 2020, and after some back and forth on the phone and FaceTime, Lindsay made the pilgrimage out to Glen Dale, Maryland in November (after quarantining of course!). It was then that Jesse and Lindsay started dating once again (for the final time :) ).

After a special set of circumstances allowed him to move back home and work remotely, Jesse moved back to Chicago and it wasn’t long before he and Lindsay moved into their first apartment, in an old Marshall Fields, in a northwest neighborhood of Chicago.

Fast forward to today, and Jesse and Lindsay have their own home, just a stones throw away from their first apartment. They share their home with their two dogs, Phoebe and Apollo, their two cats, Leonard and Lois, and their two hermit crabs they won at a 4th of July fair, Mr. Crabs and Pearl. Jesse works remotely as an engineer with NASA and Lindsay works as a clinical screener for La Rabida Children’s Hospital. You can most likely catch them working on the challenges of home ownership or creating items to sell for their new small business. They’ve been together ever since that meet up in November 2020 and getting married feels more like a formality as they have already begun to build a wonderful life together, complete with its ups and downs.

No matter what happens, life seems to bring these two back together, no matter the challenges or the distance. Jesse and Lindsay look forward to taking this next step in their relationship and are extremely excited to celebrate with everyone who has been along for the ride.