We first met in September 2017 in graduate school in Provo, Utah. Neither of us originates from there so this was pure coincidence.

We quickly became close friends after learning we both share a love for the outdoors. We weren't dating yet during this photo, but someone in the canyon captured this photo of us before we knew what was going to become of our friendship.

We were fortunate enough to be so close to some of the best (in our opinion) ski resorts in the country. Much of our getting to know each other was on the commutes to and from the mountain and sitting on chairlifts eagerly waiting to get some turns in. Coincidentally, our favorite sports are skiing and snowboarding so this was a no brainer.

We moved away from Utah to take on our first long term clinical rotations. Jason got placed in Salt Lake City, UT and Jaz in Chico, CA. It wasn't until we moved away from each other that we realized something was missing. Jason visited Jaz where he nervously asked, "do you want to be my boyfriend?" And Jaz responded with, "you wanna try asking me again later?" We sorted it all out, obviously.

We then moved to different cities in Colorado for our last clinical rotations where we got to spend weekends exploring more of the great outdoors. This was right before the whole world shut down in early 2020 and we both moved back to our home states to graduate virtually and wait things out.

Jaz eventually found a job in Santa Cruz, CA and Jason decided he'd join her. We thought we'd be here for just a year or two to start our careers. Yet here we are 6 years later with no plans in the works to move with all this wedding planning going on. Don't worry, it'll happen. Good things take time ;)

We've embraced Santa Cruz living and have both found a new love for biking. We figure, if we can't have easy access to snow, another mountain sport will have to do. And how can we complain when we have the most fun terrain available to us without having to get in a car?!

We (finally) got engaged in July 2025 after many side bets were made if this was actually going to happen. Jason took Jaz on their favorite hike they do yearly where she thought it was odd he opted to hike instead of bike for a change. It maybe didn't go as expected: the bench we usually stop at was destroyed, Jaz ripped a hole in her leggings, and the sun decided it wasn't going to come out. But in true Jase and Jaz fashion, it was sweaty, dirty, non-photogenic, and absolutely perfect.

We've enjoyed every bit of being engaged despite it still feeling weird to call each other fiancé. If you ask Jase, he'll tell you Jaz didn't actually say "yes" when he asked her to marry him. She didn't say anything at all really, just shook her head yes and cried....classic.

We are BEYOND excited to have all of our loved ones in the place where it all started. We can't wait to host the biggest party of our lives in such a beautiful location. LET'S DO THIS!