Jennifer & Dennis

About...

Jennifer	Dennis
I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan with my parents, sister, and two brothers – the youngest of four kids (Julie, John, Jason, Jennifer – all J’s). I attended Rochester College in Rochester, MI where I graduated as valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA with a marketing BBA. After college, I moved to the Metro Detroit area when I found a job. I work in cable advertising and have been with National Cable Communications (NCC Media) for over 10 years. I like to travel and have been to 48 states. I love panda bears – to which Dennis can attest. I like to read and enjoy learning about American history. I also help with sign language interpretation at church.	I grew up in Wheeling, WV. I received a BS in Math and Computer Science from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN and an MS in Computer Science from Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. After graduation I remained in Columbus working in website development and computer R&D. Now I own a tiny website development company, working from home for companies around the globe. I now live in Michigan with Jennifer's parents until my house in Ohio sells. I enjoy fixing the house, love my high spirited Siamese cat, Miette, tinkering with computers, zombies, photography, and hiking.

Jennifer

Dennis

I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan with my parents, sister, and two brothers – the youngest of four kids (Julie, John, Jason, Jennifer – all J’s). I attended Rochester College in Rochester, MI where I graduated as valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA with a marketing BBA.

After college, I moved to the Metro Detroit area when I found a job. I work in cable advertising and have been with National Cable Communications (NCC Media) for over 10 years.

I like to travel and have been to 48 states. I love panda bears – to which Dennis can attest. I like to read and enjoy learning about American history. I also help with sign language interpretation at church.

I grew up in Wheeling, WV. I received a BS in Math and Computer Science from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN and an MS in Computer Science from Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.

After graduation I remained in Columbus working in website development and computer R&D. Now I own a tiny website development company, working from home for companies around the globe.

I now live in Michigan with Jennifer's parents until my house in Ohio sells.

I enjoy fixing the house, love my high spirited Siamese cat, Miette, tinkering with computers, zombies, photography, and hiking.

How We Met

Jennifer's Point of View	Dennis' Point of View
Dennis and I found each other on eHarmony and after several weeks of questions, e-mails and a few phone calls, we decided to meet. Since I was from the Metro Detroit area and he was from Columbus, OH, we decided to meet about halfway in a city called Perrysburg, OH, just south of Toledo. The plan was just to meet for lunch at Cracker Barrel. But lunch turned into hot chocolate at a coffee house, which then turned into dinner. Well, I didn’t get home till 10:00 that night – and it wasn’t because of traffic! We met again the following weekend in Toledo, this time planning to spend the whole day together. A few weeks later, Dennis decided to venture up to Michigan to visit me. He had never been to Michigan “on purpose” before (just to get to Canada). And from there, the regular trips to Michigan and to Ohio began and the love blossomed.	I joined eHarmony for the second time in October, 2008. Jennifer was in my first round of matches this time, but I didn't reach out immediately because of the 3 hour distance. After some dead ends with people closer to home, I contacted Jennifer and before long I was eagerly waiting to hear back from her every day. Collage of our first year, a gift from Jennifer. Within a few weeks we talked on the phone and decided to meet near Toledo for a one hour lunch. Eight hours later, we decided to meet the next weekend and have been in love ever since.

Jennifer's Point of View

Dennis' Point of View

Dennis and I found each other on eHarmony and after several weeks of questions, e-mails and a few phone calls, we decided to meet. Since I was from the Metro Detroit area and he was from Columbus, OH, we decided to meet about halfway in a city called Perrysburg, OH, just south of Toledo.

The plan was just to meet for lunch at Cracker Barrel. But lunch turned into hot chocolate at a coffee house, which then turned into dinner. Well, I didn’t get home till 10:00 that night – and it wasn’t because of traffic! We met again the following weekend in Toledo, this time planning to spend the whole day together.

A few weeks later, Dennis decided to venture up to Michigan to visit me. He had never been to Michigan “on purpose” before (just to get to Canada). And from there, the regular trips to Michigan and to Ohio began and the love blossomed.

I joined eHarmony for the second time in October, 2008. Jennifer was in my first round of matches this time, but I didn't reach out immediately because of the 3 hour distance.

After some dead ends with people closer to home, I contacted Jennifer and before long I was eagerly waiting to hear back from her every day.

Collage of our first year, a gift from Jennifer.

Within a few weeks we talked on the phone and decided to meet near Toledo for a one hour lunch. Eight hours later, we decided to meet the next weekend and have been in love ever since.

The Proposal

Jennifer's Point of View	Dennis' Point of View
Dennis took me on a “mystery” trip for our anniversary (November 1, 2009 was the one year anniversary of our first date). He didn’t tell me where we were going until we got to the airport and he gave me my boarding pass. It read “Reagan National” – we were flying to Washington DC! The next morning (Sunday the first) – he had a “mystery” event planned for 7:30 in the morning. Because it was raining, we took a taxi to the destination – the National Zoo. Dennis had arranged a special tour of the pandas for us. (In case you don’t know, I absolutely LOVE panda bears). One of the trainers showed us around the exhibit and answered questions. Then she put out the bamboo for the baby panda (at four years he’s not really a “baby” anymore and looks almost as big as his momma) right in front of the glass so we could see the panda up close. The panda, Tai Shan, eventually made his way to the bamboo for breakfast. In the mean time, Dennis and I were taking tons of pictures. Then Dennis suggested I take a short movie of the panda with my camera. So while I was focused on the panda, he called my name, got down on one knee and proposed. With the raining falling all around us, I took the ring and said yes. When we came home from the airport, there were two vases full of lilies (one of my favorite flowers) on my kitchen table. I asked how in the world he got those in the apartment since he had been with me the whole time since we left. Photo with the panda, right after the proposal.He had arranged for some friends to get the flowers and leave them in my apartment while we were gone. I definitely found “the one.”	We had been talking about marriage for a while, and I knew I wanted to do something very special when I proposed. We were planning to take a special trip somewhere on November 1st, the first anniversary of our first date, and I decided that would be the best time. I knew Jennifer absolutely loves pandas. So I did a little research and was able to find the contact info for the zoo keeper in charge of the pandas at the National Zoo in DC. She worked with me to set up a special tour for us. There was also the matter of the ring. We had been looking for a little while, and I ordered it as soon as I could. Still, the ring was delayed and arrived a little late. Finally, I was scheduled to have my tonsils, adenoids, and uvula removed just three weeks before the date. If you don't know, this is a major surgery for adults. I had set aside two weeks to take off work for recovery. It wasn't clear that I'd be healthy enough to travel just three weeks after the surgery. But everything came together. The ring arrived on the last day I had available to pick it up. My recovery was very fast and I had no problems flying. And while Jennifer was suspicious, I was careful enough that she couldn't be sure it was coming. We were up early on November 1st to head to the zoo. I kept it all a surprise until we were there, where we got a marvelous tour of the panda exhibit and a close up look at the "baby" panda. I bided my time while we watched the panda -- waiting maybe 20 minutes. Then when she least expected, I brought out the ring I'd been hiding the entire trip, got down on one knee and proposed. I still remember the look on her face as she said yes.

Jennifer's Point of View

Dennis' Point of View

Dennis took me on a “mystery” trip for our anniversary (November 1, 2009 was the one year anniversary of our first date). He didn’t tell me where we were going until we got to the airport and he gave me my boarding pass. It read “Reagan National” – we were flying to Washington DC!

The next morning (Sunday the first) – he had a “mystery” event planned for 7:30 in the morning. Because it was raining, we took a taxi to the destination – the National Zoo. Dennis had arranged a special tour of the pandas for us. (In case you don’t know, I absolutely LOVE panda bears). One of the trainers showed us around the exhibit and answered questions. Then she put out the bamboo for the baby panda (at four years he’s not really a “baby” anymore and looks almost as big as his momma) right in front of the glass so we could see the panda up close. The panda, Tai Shan, eventually made his way to the bamboo for breakfast.

In the mean time, Dennis and I were taking tons of pictures. Then Dennis suggested I take a short movie of the panda with my camera. So while I was focused on the panda, he called my name, got down on one knee and proposed. With the raining falling all around us, I took the ring and said yes.

When we came home from the airport, there were two vases full of lilies (one of my favorite flowers) on my kitchen table. I asked how in the world he got those in the apartment since he had been with me the whole time since we left. Photo with the panda, right after the proposal.He had arranged for some friends to get the flowers and leave them in my apartment while we were gone. I definitely found “the one.”

We had been talking about marriage for a while, and I knew I wanted to do something very special when I proposed. We were planning to take a special trip somewhere on November 1st, the first anniversary of our first date, and I decided that would be the best time.

I knew Jennifer absolutely loves pandas. So I did a little research and was able to find the contact info for the zoo keeper in charge of the pandas at the National Zoo in DC. She worked with me to set up a special tour for us.

There was also the matter of the ring. We had been looking for a little while, and I ordered it as soon as I could. Still, the ring was delayed and arrived a little late.

Finally, I was scheduled to have my tonsils, adenoids, and uvula removed just three weeks before the date. If you don't know, this is a major surgery for adults. I had set aside two weeks to take off work for recovery. It wasn't clear that I'd be healthy enough to travel just three weeks after the surgery.

But everything came together. The ring arrived on the last day I had available to pick it up. My recovery was very fast and I had no problems flying. And while Jennifer was suspicious, I was careful enough that she couldn't be sure it was coming.

We were up early on November 1st to head to the zoo. I kept it all a surprise until we were there, where we got a marvelous tour of the panda exhibit and a close up look at the "baby" panda. I bided my time while we watched the panda -- waiting maybe 20 minutes. Then when she least expected, I brought out the ring I'd been hiding the entire trip, got down on one knee and proposed. I still remember the look on her face as she said yes.

The Future

After the wedding we'll be going to an undisclosed hotel in the Detroit area, before we head to Hawaii. We'll spend three days in Honolulu and then embark on a one week cruise of the islands.

When we return, Dennis will move into Jennifer's tiny, tiny apartment and we'll start looking for a house of our own.