Our Story
Two Indiana kids, both living in Phoenix, both on Hinge in the summer of 2023. Aneize had her radius set to three miles. Justin lived forty-five minutes away. The Hinge gods apparently took that as a suggestion rather than a rule, because we matched anyway, and Aneize's first message read:
Hello, fellow Hoosier.
The timing was less convenient. We connected right before Aneize left for two weeks in Peru, which Justin assumed meant he'd never hear from her again. Instead, she texted from Peru. Pictures, actual conversations, the small consistent effort of someone who's serious about things.
Our first planned date was pho in the dead of Phoenix summer. The restaurant was closed for a water leak. Justin called from the parking lot to break the news, and before he could even finish the sentence, Aneize was already pulling up alternatives on her phone. We ended up at sushi, pouring sake for each other, and by the end of the night we both knew.
A few dates later, Justin made shrimp puttanesca at his place and told Aneize the slightly scandalous story of how the dish got its name. She came back for a second helping, which we're choosing to interpret as a good sign.
Around that same time, Aneize mentioned she'd missed Taylor Swift in Phoenix and really wanted to go. Justin, who normally needs a spreadsheet and a 30-day cooling-off period before making any decision, said it before his brain could intervene:
Let's see Taylor in LA.
A few weeks later we were at SoFi Stadium, and somewhere between the concert, more sushi, and a slow weekend in the sun, we both quietly figured out that this was the real thing.
Not long after, Justin moved to downtown Phoenix, which conveniently solved the 3 mile radius issue the Hinge gods had been gracious enough to overlook. The real turning point came in early 2024, when Aneize had LASIK surgery and ended up with a tougher recovery than expected. She stayed at Justin's place for four days. Justin made the food, kept the lights low, put in the eye drops, and drove across town to feed Arlow (her tuxedo cat). Somewhere in those four days, we both figured out we wanted to live together.
Aneize and Arlow moved in soon after. The apartment was too small. We could hear each other's work meetings through the walls. We loved it anyway.
We're opposites in most of the ways that matter and weirdly aligned in the ways that count. Aneize is the social one, the optimist, the one who leads with feeling. Justin is the introvert, the realist, the one who shows up with a process. She's also somehow the planner who's relaxed about the plan, while Justin is the don't-plan-anything guy who gets stressed if we're five minutes late to the thing she planned. We've stopped trying to make sense of it.
It works.
On February 28, 2026, Justin proposed at sunset at Sanctuary in Paradise Valley, with rose petals, candles, champagne, and a ring he'd been quietly working on for longer than he'd care to admit. Aneize was completely surprised. She also said yes.
And because the story started with two Hoosiers finding each other against the odds, it only made sense to bring it home. We're getting married in Indiana, where it all started, surrounded by the people who got us here.