How else do people meet in NYC, during a pandemic, other than on Tinder? That's what happened one fateful day in October 2020. AJ and Kara both swiped right. Kara, a recent NYU graduate student in Brooklyn, and AJ, a Jersey boy with decent credit, no roommates, and a car (quite the catch for a single guy in NY) initially hit it off on a Zoom date by debating the merits of their top 5 favorite movies of all time.

Fast forward 6 months and Kara had accepted a job in her hometown of Bakersfield, CA at Bakersfield College and AJ had accepted a new role with his company in their Seattle office.

With both Kara and AJ living on the West Coast, they took monthly weekend trips to see each other, where Kara got to explore the Pacific Northwest and AJ got to experience his first Bakersfield heatwave (and first bout of Valley Fever). Soon after, AJ's job went permanently remote and he moved to Bakersfield to be with Kara.

They have lived together in Bakersfield since May 2022, where Kara runs her mobile bookstore, The Index, and is now back to working at Bakersfield College. AJ still also works remotely for Stryker and continues to play soccer in his free time, even as his knees progressively hurt more and more.

AJ proposed at home on February 28th, 2023, right before they left for a week in Hawaii. They decided on a long engagement to prioritize other things like building their army of pets which include two cats, Ravioli, and Luigi and their dog, Cannoli. They also wanted to buy a home before paying for a wedding, and were very fortunate to be able to purchase their first home together in December of 2023.

With all the essentials settled, they are now in full wedding planning mode and can't wait to celebrate with you all in 2025!