While it's hard to pin down where it really begins, as life has a funny way of making what are seemingly unfit puzzle pieces come together. But, I think It's fair to say it started when I moved to Kansas City in the fall of 2021. After three years of moving around the country, with stops in MN, VA & MI, I had decided to move to Kansas City. I ended up buying a 100-year-old house that was in shambles, and spent every non working hour from October - May remodeling it with my dad.

By Memorial Day weekend the next spring, the bachelor pad was done and I texted my Beta pledge brother, Blake, seeing if there were ‘plans’ I could get involved in that weekend. Blake responded with something to the tune of “Glad you’re alive and actually did move here, let me see what’s going on.” Soon after Blake let me know that all our KC pledge brothers were out of town because they all had fancy plans with their fancy girlfriends and wives. But he followed it with “Do you remember Luke Becker from Mizzou? Was high school buddies with Andy” Of course I did, and lucky for Blake and I, Luke, and his two roommates, Danny and Eli, were also looking for plans.

Blake, Luke, Eli, Danny and I would end up meeting at Zocalo on the plaza (RIP) on Friday night. What started as an innocent happy hour with a somewhat random group of people, quickly turned into a bunch of dudes that were having a blast together, playing a game of rock paper scissors to decide who got to take the last tequila shot.

That night kicked off what was dubbed, “the summer of love”, the quest of a bunch of single mid-twenty-somethings setting off on a hell-bent quest to find our wives.

As the summer went on, much to everyone’s surprise & despite our best efforts, no love had been found. None. Nothing that even came close to resembling one letter of that silly four-letter word.

Every once in a while, when we were down on ourselves about the summer of love finding going very poorly, someone would say “Maybe not everyone is on these dang dating apps", and someone would always bring up this girl named Caroline. Caroline’s mom and Luke’s parents had been long time friends, but none of us knew much about her as she had made a questionable decision to get her ‘education’ at the University of Kansas, and we were all well-educated Missouri scholars. “Luke, what about Caroline? Is she single?” To which Luke would say “I think she is, but good luck.”

In late August, the boys and I were at the pool at Woodside, enjoying a leisurely Saturday afternoon. When the thigh taps started. Which was guy code for “Hey, you might want to look up from the book you’re pretending to know how to read.” As I looked up, I saw Caroline for the first time. I remember my only thought was “Oh, wow, okay, good luck boys” After an hour of pretending we didn't exist, she eventually acknowledge she knew some of the guys I was with and a bit of casual conversation ensued.

That day wrapped up, and everyone went on their way.

A few weeks later in September, all the boys were in town for Alex Acuff’s wedding and out at Tin Roof in Westport. I was standing at the bar, talking to Luke, when this girl came up and started to talk to us – It was that Caroline girl from the pool. As that night went on, Caroline and I started and never stopped talking to each other. Moving from one corner of the bar to another, taking (a few) patron shots as the night went on - Turns out, it wasn't "An American Life", Ronald Reagan's autobiography that I was reading at the pool in August that made her not want to talk to me, it was just that she just couldn't tell that I was 6'8" when I was laying down on a pool chair... Standing up at the bar? I had her attention.

That night would wrap up, and Caroline and I didn’t talk again until Danny had orchestrated a group of us to go to the Chiefs game together in Mid-October. Caroline didn’t know that tall boy from the bar, who she knew his name as “Jack” was going to be driving everyone to the game. She just knew it was Danny’s buddy “Schimpf” that was driving to Arrowhead. I, however, knew that cute girl, Caroline from Tin Roof, was going to be riding with us.

After the Chief’s game, spending time hanging out at the tailgate, I went home with one thought on my mind: “Jack, you’ve got to ask this Caroline girl on a date.”

After a few days of building up the courage to ask the most beautiful woman I had ever seen or talked to on a date, I got Caroline’s number, and sent her a simple text “Hey Caroline, it’s Jack Schimpf. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you the last few weeks, would love if you’d let me buy you dinner sometime soon.” After making me wait a good three hours for a response, she agreed. Dinner was on, and on Thursday, November 10th 2022, we went on our first date at Rockhill Grill in Kansas City. By the end of our first date, our second was planned for the next night. And by the end of that weekend, I had dialed up our third date when I surprised her with a casual Sunday night Carrie Underwood concert at T Mobile in Kansas City.

After that, it’s all a blur, we spent the next weeks and months getting to know each other, spending more time together than either of us are comfortable admitting, all the while not so slowly falling in love with one another. On July 5th, 2024, I asked Caroline to be my wife at Rockhill Grill, the same restaurant where it all began back in November of 2022 (She said yes BTW). We can’t wait to celebrate our marriage, the start of the rest of our lives together, and the role each of you have played in our story on October 4th!

Making a mental note to make sure I say my vows first because Jack is impossible to follow…

From my perspective everything started that first night at Tin Roof when I met this super cute, super tall guy who also happened to like tequila shots - he obviously had my attention. As the night went on and we kept chatting, I remember thinking, “huh I’ve kinda been talking his ear off nonstop but he seems to be genuinely interested”, so of course I just kept yapping.

Fast forward a few weeks and I’m ambushed by a group outing to the Chiefs game because nobody thought to mention that the “Schimpf” that was driving us to the game was “Jack Schimpf" aka the cute guy from the bar that hadn’t seemed to have found my number yet. After the initial surprise, I was just excited for another chance to hangout with him. Three hours in the Arrowhead parking lot was plenty of time to make this guy fall in love with me… but then another few days went by and nothing...

So imagine my surprise when I walk out of the movie theatre one night to a text from a 573 area code (the Ozarks?) asking to take me to dinner sometime - GOT ‘EM! I responded with an obvious yes but didn’t get a response back that night. I was starting to question if he had already changed his mind but quickly learned that nothing comes between Jack Schimpf and his bedtime.

We went on our first date the next Thursday which quickly turned into a second date the next day and then a third date that Sunday - a surprise date to Carrie Underwood. I was nervy it was going to be bowling (one of the two things I’m really bad at) so I was beyond excited (and relieved) when he told me what the surprise was. Needless to say we were both down bad from the very beginning and have been pretty inseparable ever since. I'm so grateful that I somehow managed to find the most perfect man standing at the bar ordering tequila shots and even more grateful that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me.

Thank you all for loving and supporting us along the way. We are both so so so excited for October 4th and can’t wait to celebrate with you all!!