Little did he know...He wasn't going to be a Packers fan much longer!

Before returning from Greece, John had asked Elana on their first date, which was set for September 2nd, 2021. We both secretly knew it was meant to be when we showed up for our first date matching! Before the night ended, Elana invited John to join her and her friends at Boots in the Park the following weekend. He couldn't help but say yes, seeing as his favorite country singer, Jon Pardi was headlining! Unfortunately for John, the group decided to depart the concert early, just after Jon Pardi took the stage!

Time seemed to move quick and memories continued to be made. Elana hosted Thanksgiving, we went on our first van trip, and after just 3 short months it was time to visit home for the holidays!

Christmas spent in Pennsylvania followed by a trip to Buffalo!

John got to experience his first NHL game

It didn't take long for John to understand what made the Bills Mafia so special. After experiencing his first taste of Anchor Bar wings in Buffalo, he experienced his first devastating loss as a Bills fan. He had no idea 13 seconds could mean so much...

The months to follow were filled with a lot of military training for John (providing Elana's favorite picture to date), multiple FaceTime dates, lots of naps, and long commutes for John from Camp Pendleton to Pacific Beach for us to spend time together.

After just 8 months together, our relationship endured the scariest moment when John was in a skydiving accident. It was at this moment when we knew our relationship was stronger than ever. Elana flew to Arizona to be with John at the hospital, and after 5 days in the hospital, they returned to San Diego to begin John's recovery. We are eternally grateful each and every day for John's recovery and the immense amount of work he put into his healing journey to be able to deploy the following year with his guys.

After 3 long months of recovery, John began getting back to his military and life routines. Just in time to celebrate his birthday at his favorite place, the ball park! Elana surprised John with tickets behind home plate and a surprise party with all his favorite people waiting for him after the game!

October began the 8 month deployment. John headed off for pre-deployment training in Hawaii. The gate agents saw how sad Elana was dropping John off at the airport, and let her back to the gate to wait with him before he boarded his flight. The countdown until his return began!

The moment John had been waiting for finally arrived. His first jump back after his accident. Despite the long deployment, John's ability to deploy with his best friends and skydive again has been remarkable. The next 6 months were filled with MANY FaceTime calls, care packages, 16-hour time difference phone calls, and planning for John's return.

He's finally home!

We celebrated John's return with a trip to Mexico ! We had one of the coolest experiences of our lives, swimming with whale sharks in the middle of the ocean

The fall of 2023 was filled with love and celebration as we got to watch some of Elana's best friends get married! John finally got to meet the full "Buffalo Crew" and to no surprise...he fit right in

As John's time in the military was coming to a close, we took a cross-country drive from San Diego to Tulsa, Oklahoma to spend Thanksgiving with John's family. I didn't know it was possible to drive from Tulsa to San Diego in 1 day...but John made it happen! Elana was just in charge of the car snacks (and staying well rested).

2023 ended with a HUGE surprise! John pulled off a surprise engagement before the Bills crushed the Cowboys. John knew how special it would be to have all of Elana's friends there to celebrate! After an incredible game, we closed out 2023 with family and friends!