Swipe Right for Fate (and a Family Connection)

We met on Hinge, but the app did us dirty—we lived in different cities. One day, while texting, Janae asked Annie her favorite music. When Annie mentioned she was weirdly connected to bluegrass, Janae casually asked, “Oh, do you know Forrest Allen?” Turns out, Forrest is Janae’s cousin and he started a band, Good Not Great, with Al (Annie's great friend/roommate) and Janae's cousins, Ryan and Forrest. And the band was actually started in Annie’s living room with Al!

Date 3, Janae used her connection with the White Water Rafting community. (Thanks H2O!!!!!!) Our boat got into a sticky situation where Janae had to take over for a guide. Annie was impressed.

A series of disasters: a popped tire in the middle of nowhere, violent food poisoning, and hiking an active volcano. Despite it all, the limestone pools and epic views were worth it!

Annie decided Janae might stick around and flew her to Avon, NY, for her sister, Kathryn's wedding. First time meeting the whole family! We danced with everyone, charmed her way through small-town life. She stayed around, so glad it all worked out!

Janae joined Annie’s family for two weeks in Japan, exploring temples, devouring sushi, and visiting Kathryn in Misawa. By the end of the trip, Janae could navigate the train system like a pro—and Annie’s parents were ready to adopt her.

Annie convinced Janae to get scuba certified in La Paz, Mexico. Janae cried during the first dive, overwhelmed by the beauty (and maybe the pressure equalization). But she loved it so much she’s now talking about getting her advanced certification.

Janae proposed underwater, running out of air suspiciously fast (blame the nerves or the sharks), and Annie said yes.

Not to be outdone, Annie planned a counter-proposal during a whitewater trip, holding up a sign mid-rapid. We’re not competitive—just equally dramatic. Thanks H2O and Hotspots!!!

We celebrated Annie’s 30th with a month-long party in Alaska: packrafting in sequined dresses, dancing at Salmonfest, and taking over Miles, Jess, and Aunt Janet’s homes with piles of wet gear. Lots of fun in sequins, biking, fishing and good people! We laughed, floated, and turned every driveway into a drying rack.

Annie remains the superior chef, transforming Janae’s diet from freezer snacks to gourmet meals. Janae, in turn, has perfected the art of enthusiastic taste-testing and rapid dishwashing.

Grown ups in Sacramento!

In Mexico, Jennie's car broke down on the way to the sirport (couple hours away). Janae thrives in crisis and quickly put her thumb out and we hitchhiked on a big rig for over an hour. We made our flight with less than two minutes to spare, sprinting through the airport!

Janae, a whitewater raft guide, dreams of giant rafts and big rapids. Annie, a packraft enthusiast, prefers tiny boats and quiet rivers. Naturally, we added a raft to the family, and now every trip is a playful tug-of-war between Janae trying to convert Annie to big rafts and Annie sneakily planning more packraft-friendly excursions.

We hit Disneyland with Rob and Jack, acting like big kids and fully committing to the magic.

We celebrated Eprin and Jennie’s wedding in La Paz, dancing under the stars, sneaking in extra dives, and learning that wedding cake tastes even better on the ocean, with margaritas in hand.

Annie has introduced Janae to dozens (literally dozens) of thrift stores across multiple states and countries. Janae quickly learned her best chance of survival is to agree—preferably with a coffee in hand.

We’ve conquered 20 (different) airports together—and really taken advantage of all the lounges. The real adventure is figuring out if we can beat that number before the wedding.

We set out to hike the Kalalau Coast with big dreams of backpacking paradise. But after reaching a flooded river crossing, we had to turn back. The trail closed behind us like nature’s way of saying, “Not today.” Instead, we ate snacks and declared victory anyway.

Our weekly Survivor nights became sacred rituals—complete with commentary, strategic debates, puzzles and margaritas. We’ve already drafted our audition tapes, convinced we’d either win or get voted out for being too fun.

Every fall, we team up with Carlos for epic corn maze adventures —in costume, of course. Getting out is optional; having fun is mandatory.

We turned day trips to Tijuana into full-blown taco adventures, taste-testing every taco stand we could find. We’ve debated the perfect tortilla-to-filling ratio, discovered the best churros, and considered getting “Will Travel for Tacos” tattooed.

We hunted down hidden water holes in Tahoe, tubing down rivers and turning the woods into our personal playground.