Jen & Brian married! Pleasanton, CA

They chatted online for a few months before they actually met in person in 2009. He was really easy to talk to, and she loved that about him. She mentioned that she lived in San Diego for a while and as it happens, so did Brian! He was stationed at Miramar working nights when he messaged Jen with, "Do you like burritos?" They finally decided to meet up on Jen's lunch break one day at an awesome sushi place in San Diego called Sushi Itto. They ate and she talked his ear off because she was so nervous. He didn't seem to mind because we continued talking. She was in another relationship that she wanted out of it, and meeting Brian was the perfect reason to end things. Long story short, Brian and Jen were nuts about each other for a good 16 months before they were official. He was deployed for seven of those 16 months, but when he came back, they were inseparable.

They were in the kitchen at his parents house baking a couple of cakes for a family reunion planned for the next day when he suggested that they take a drive. This was not out of the ordinary for him, so no, she didn't suspect anything! She started to, however, when they were still driving down a dirt road 45 minutes later. Jen was convinced he was going to just leave me there. It was beautiful out, cold, but beautiful. They stopped finally, in a spot surrounded by mountains back-lit by the moon. He said "Let's hug", so they did. As soon as she told herself not to make fun of him for hugging her with only one arm, he pulled the non-hugging hand out of his pocket and held the ring on his pointer finger. She looked at the twinkling peice of bling, wild-eyed, and asked "What is THAT?!" That's when he asked her to marry him, wild-eyes and all.

After being apart for 3 years, Brian finally came back home a few weeks ago for good, to marry the love of his life, Jen. They'd only been dating a little while when Brian revealed to her that he was being deployed for 3 years. It wasn't easy being apart for so long, but they made it work. They took trips together on Brian's time off to amazing places where they explored, took tons of pictures, and remembered how strong their love is for each other. They are such funny, loving people and I know their life will be full of new experiences together!

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