Jay had just moved to Utah in January for a new engineering job with Northrop Grumman and was excited to explore the Utah outdoors. Erika had just graduated college with her degree in International Relations and was looking to expand her social circle as she realized most of her friends had moved to other states! So when Jay asked Erika on a date she didn't think it would be anything more than finding a fun hiking buddy to explore the outdoors and practice her Russian. But a few weeks later when Erika met Charlie, and Jay met Sabine, it seems the dogs had other ideas in mind and pulled us closer together when we took our first hike up Adams Canyon and watched the sun set. Soon Jay and Erika were trading cooking recipes...he won her over with his Jerk Chicken and the movie Interstellar, and she found the way to his heart through his stomach baking him her German Apfelkuchen. They took a camping trip to Moab Utah and spent the night at the campfire under the stars talking for hours and realizing they shared many of the same dreams. Before long, Erika had saved enough to move out of her parents into her own apartment and as Jay helped her unpack the boxes, he asked her to be his girlfriend! From then on, it was official!!

Now that they were official, Erika wanted to impress Jay and take her cooking up a notch by making Sumalak, a traditional Uzbek food, to surprise him on Navruz (a holiday celebrating spring). She started in the wee hours of 2am and put on the cottonseed oil...well, she thought boiling oil should have bubbles and before she knew it a fire had started. She threw water on it which erupted into a massive fireball engulfing her kitchen. As she phoned the fire department, Sabine ran out the door and it was chaos. Jay was at his apartment a few streets up and was woken when he heard the sirens, ironically thinking to himself, "Could that be Erika? Nah...." Well, to make a long story short, Erika was completely embarrassed to tell him her date plan for Navruz would need some adjusting....Jay was a perfect gentleman and came over to help her clean all the fire retardant and damage and they made it to the Lantern Festival that night. Erika promised to never again try cooking sumalak without some Uzbek mentoring and Jay made a wish "To Last" which soared into the stars. Lucky for us, Jay's wish has come true and Erika's Uzbek cooking is improving as she attempts blinchiki and samsa (without the oil haha). Over the next year they took many adventures with their favorite stops being in the Sawtooths of Idaho where Erika taught Jay how to fish and he caught a beautiful trout! Back in Layton, Jay taught Erika how to drive a stick shift (Jay got a few free chiropractic adjustments haha) and they enjoyed going to classic car shows and rodeos where Erika introduced Jay to her world of horses. As the holidays approached, Jay asked Erika to accompany him to see his family in North Carolina. Erika was super nervous but once she met them, they all bonded in the kitchen and she got to learn more about his Uzbek culture. Her heart was especially melted meeting his youngest sister Christina who would team up with Latty, Carolyn, and Erika to take on Jay in nerf-gun games (we will let you decide who you think won)!

After seeing Erika with his family at Christmas, Jay knew that he wanted her to be his love forever. When he got back from NC, he began looking at rings. He recruited her best friend Sam to get Erika's design taste (Erika was completely oblivious). He then went to her parents to ask for their permission to marry their daughter. Jay was so nervous but he needn't have been as Joe and Johi' already thought of him as family and were happy to give their blessing. Jay now had to find the perfect spot and time...knowing Erika is shy in public he decided to propose in Death Valley on their trip to see the superblooms in Jubilee Pass. As they explored Death Valley, they were pulled over by a Park Ranger while walking the dogs. As the park ranger explained you couldn't walk dogs in this area, he got distracted by something else and dismissed us. Erika quickly ran to the car with the pups but Jay told her he had a question for the ranger. Unbeknownst to Erika, Jay told the ranger his proposal plan and the ranger recommended a more serene and secluded area in the Owlshead Mountains that should be very beautiful. So Jay and Erika drove to Owlshead under the pretenses of checking out a cool trail. As they set up the tripod to take a photo of themselves with the dogs, Jay hit a video "record" and as the photo "snapped" he began telling Erika how happy he was with her and before she knew it he was asking her to marry him and through excitement and hugs, which squeezed Jay so tight his heart might've stopped, Erika managed to say yes!!! After they called their parents to tell them the happy news, Erika couldn't believe her parents had known and kept a secret for months! As the sun set over their campfire, Jay and Erika found themselves in complete bliss, feeling so lucky to have been blessed to find each other.

On the way home, Erika had to laugh at how much her life had changed. She was the girl who, for her entire life, swore up and down to anyone and everyone who would listen that she had no interest, would never date, never fall in love, and never get married...she had eyes only for her horses! She was only ever looking for a friend, but this funny, charismatic, kind, and intelligent two-legged creature had worked his way into her heart and become her best friend and more. As the title of "fiancé" began to sink in, she realized that she was truly the happiest she has ever been!

Between ski trips and roadtrips, from Idaho to Oregon, Montana and Nevada, California and Colorado, Jay and Erika continue to explore the national parks and find the "roads less traveled." They've since gotten 2 hedgehogs "Harvey" and "Curio," which bring much amusement, and are staying busy planning the wedding of their dreams. Jay and Erika feel God has blessed them both so very much in bringing them together, and are so excited to take their vows before God, their families, and friends on October 4, 2024!!