Oh hi. Welcome to the page where you read our story.

Once upon a time (a.k.a. 2008), Jean and Tyler both lived in Chicago. Originally from Western Pennsylvania (but "really" from China), Jean studied Journalism and wrote articles about ways to market consumer packaged goods. A native of Central Missouri -- and lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan -- Tyler moved to Chicago to slice and dice cells at a scientific research lab. They met through mutual friends and connected over a shared interest in drinking black coffee, complaining about things, walking long distances and the enjoying the $5.99 lunch special at Thai Aroma in Uptown.

Eventually, in the summer of 2009, Jean decided that instead of reporting about the marketing of consumer packaged goods, she could just cut the middle-man and market consumer packaged goods. So, she embarked on a 2-year pursuit in the study of business at Indiana University, during which she learned how to make charts in Excel and fully utilize such words as “leverage” and “robust.” Inspired by Jean’s professional development, Tyler had a similar realization that instead of working to drive advancements in science, he too could just market them. Thus, as Jean finished her first year of post-graduate education, Tyler began his own at the University of Michigan.

Thus began a long list of places lived and long distances relationship’ed, including:

Bloomington, IN (Jean)
Ann Arbor, MI (Tyler)
Minneapolis (Jean)
Philadelphia (Tyler)
Beijing (Jean)
San Francisco (Tyler)
Minneapolis, again (Jean)
Albany, NY (Tyler)

Revisiting the $5.99 lunch special at Thai Aroma (2012)

Throughout these 3½ years, Jean and Tyler made fantastic new friends while confusing existing ones about their places of residence and general life plans. They also experienced a serious case of FOMO (“Fear of Missing Out,” duh) regarding the people and places of Chicago, and they returned constantly to rendezvous with both each other and the proverbial Windy City.

Note, Jean and Tyler would like to thank the following people for facilitating their relationship with rent-free places to crash, on a quarterly and sometimes monthly basis, with little-to-no notice:

Liza & Ron Hale
Marti Palermo & Jarrod Routh
Sheena & Jason Smith
Lauren & Kevin Wasielewski

Ultimately, Jean and Tyler determined that enough was, indeed, enough, and committed to living in the same place for an indefinite amount of time. They spent a few months in Minneapolis before moving back to Chicago in the summer of 2013. There, they found a great apartment in the unincorporated area between Ukrainian Village and Humboldt Park. And it was there that on a chilly evening in 2013, Tyler unrolled a meticulous 40-point contract, Jean scrutinized it, and they both signed a legally binding agreement to be together 4 Lyfe.

Thank you for reading our story. Note that we maintain exclusive rights to the use and distribution of this story. We hope you’ve enjoyed knowing us, and we sincerely hope you can celebrate our wedding in September. At this point, please move to the RSVP page and help us take things to the next level.