Jess and Andrew grew up in Cincinnati, but didn't meet until a few years after college. They were both living downtown and attending their local Orangetheory Fitness studio. Their first conversation was in a workout class, when they were assigned to stations right next to each other. Andrew unsurprisingly, started their first conversation about music!

Over the next several months, Jess and Andrew started spending more time together. They connected over shared interests - travel, vinyl records, Cincinnati sports, hiking, and their pride & joy -- their cats.

Six months into dating, the COVID-19 pandemic started. Jess and Andrew were both lucky to be able to work from home during this time. They spent lots of nights with Jess' best friend and roommate, Nicole, working on puzzles, going for walks, and Facetiming friends.

In December 2020, Jess' mom Mary passed from her three year fight with Pancreatic Cancer. Over the next several months (and still to this day) Andrew has been a wonderful partner and support system to the Buchberger family in processing their grief from losing the family matriarch.

Jess and Andrew had both traveled quite a bit before meeting, and were finally able to enjoy this together as COVID vaccines rolled out in 2021. Their first trip after the pandemic was to Mary Buchberger's favorite place and the Buchberger family vacation spot - Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Fall 2021 also brought Jess and Andrew's first international trip together - Italy! During this trip, they visited Rome, Florence, and the Amalfi Coast. Aside from too many Aperol Spritzes, eating our weight in pasta, Andrew's near crash while on a Vespa wine tour (channeling his inner Lizzie McGuire) and petting every stray cat we met, we made it back in one piece!

Throughout 2021 and 2022, Jess and Andrew made many unforgettable memories together. They got to see a few of their best friends get married and attend some pretty amazing concerts - Dead and Co.(3x), Walk the Moon, Mt. Joy, Trampled by Turtles, and the Aspen Jazz Festival, featuring Leon Bridges, Chris Stapleton and Stevie Nicks.

They have also been fortunate to continue their love for travel. Some of their favorite US destinations (outside of Colorado and Paycor Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals) include Buffalo (minus the Bills), Asheville, Miami, and Austin.

In addition to their domestic trips, Jess and Andrew have also continued their international escapades, visiting a total of five continents and seven countries together -Italy, Spain, Morocco, Slovenia (more on this later), Turkey, Greece, and Australia. Be sure to ask about the time they got denied from the same bar three times in Florence, crashed a Moroccan wedding, saw some interesting rock formations in Cappadocia, Turkey, and snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef!

When not busy or away, Jess and Andrew love living in and being a part of the downtown Cincinnati community with their cats, Ginger, Onyx, and Pepper. Their favorite things to do are walk for coffee, spend too much money at Shake It and Plaid Room Records, have a Painkiller at Longfellow, cheer on their Bearcats and Bengals, and host bonfires with cigars in their courtyard!

In Fall 2022, Andrew suggested that he and Jess take a trip that December to celebrate, "Jess finishing her first year in graduate school," and offered to do all the planning...

Included in that planning was a breathtaking (and totally surprised and unexpected) proposal at Ojstrica Point, Lake Bled, Slovenia. Little did Jess know that when she was in her weekend classes at the University of Colorado Boulder, Andrew was meeting with her favorite jeweler and a Slovenian-based wedding & engagement planner to coordinate the entire thing!