Once upon a Hinge match, Jake and Carina exchanged virtual words for the first time in the summer of 2023. Carina was smitten by the sweet and thoughtful voice notes Jake would send her and appreciated his listening skills since she would often ramble about the palliative care rotation she was on as she wrapped up her third year of medical school. Jake appreciated Carina’s thoughtful messages, smiling face, and the fact that she was clearly a goober. The first date sealed the deal for both of them. From the second they laid eyes on each other on June 17, 2023, they knew there was something special between them. Cliches are indeed cliches for a reason. Carina was running a few minutes late which she felt horrible about, so she was speed walking to their meeting point at Clark Park on a hot sticky Saturday morning. Jake stood on the corner melting into the ground and hiding behind a bus stop as Carina crossed the street. They embraced, exchanged hellos and Jake immediately noticed that Carina appeared a little flustered (which she was trying to hide) so he offered to find a place to sit and take a beat. That seemingly small gesture ended up being Carina’s first taste of Jake’s immensely warm, perceptive, and generous heart which she appreciated wholeheartedly right from the start. After cooling off under the shade of some trees and watching the bustle of the Clark Park farmer’s market, Jake and Carina went to say hello to a couple of Jake’s friends (shout out to Neilay and Dana) and their three week old baby who happened to be at the park that morning as well. Over the next 6 hours, Jake and Carina went to a sidewalk sale, grabbed a snack from Alif’s brew, strolled around the Woodland’s cemetery and had their first kiss among the graves. A bit morbid, but wildly romantic in the moment. You had to be there. They then proceeded to see each other several times that following week with Jake even meeting Carina’s parents that next weekend as he helped her move across town. And that was just the very beginning. The chemistry and connection was so effortless so instantly that Jake and Carina would frequently turn to each other to acknowledge how completely bizarre that was. Turns out neither one of them had ever met their person before.

Since their meeting, Jake and Carina have had many adventures together. Some highlights include: exchanging their first ‘I love you’s’ on Jake’s couch after co-hosting a BBQ, matching Halloween costumes, roadtripping across Italy fully paid for by the airline thanks to Jake’s haggling skills and dumb luck, Carina becoming Dr. Guerra, Jake navigating work, friends, and his constantly shifting hobbies, moving in together into their cozy home in the Italian Market, adopting their 100% PomeranianTM fur child Mimi, spending weekends enjoying the splendors of Korean spas, Pho 75, competitive games of Ecologies, daily summer walks to John’s Water Ice, and what streaming services have to offer.

Of course, adventures aren’t always spa days. Jake and Carina have supported each other through sickness, stress at work, the passing of family members, and through the day to day frustrations, philosophical quandaries, miscommunications, fatigue and bad habits that can bring us down. These difficulties have only deepened their relationship and emphasized how important it has been to have each other in their lives. As they began to grapple with these inevitable challenges life and life-long relationships bring, they started to learn how to fall in love and commit to one another every single day.

Now it has been about 2.5 years (another marker has been that aforementioned 3 week-old baby’s age), and Jake and Carina have decided they want to keep having adventures, whatever life may bring, together until the end of time. Their time, at least. They are over the moon to share their wedding celebration with their communities who have all played their own special roles in Jake and Carina’s love story. They can’t wait to see everyone who can make it! And for those who can’t, they look forward to seeing you another time, hopefully soon!