A boisterous Masshole, a sweet California girl, a ferocious white Maltipoo, and a fabled broken vacuum cleaner. What sounds like the beginnings of cheesy 90's coming-of-age movie set on a college campus is actually the real-life love story of Jesse and Kim.
Jesse and Kim met at the Villa Dylano apartment complex located in the shadows of Florida State's Doak Campbell Stadium. Jesse had just moved to the city from Baton Rouge and immediately noticed a beautiful woman sitting on her balcony above his apartment. A brief conversation about the location of the mailbox ensued -- though it was quickly cut short due to excessive barking from one white Malitpoo. Evidently Rue - the ball of fluff - is very protective of her mommy and didn't approve of her talking to a strange man.
Weeks had passed since Jesse arrived in Tally, and he couldn't figure out why he hadn't run into the girl who lived above him a single time since their first encounter. Jesse decided to concoct a plan that would finally get him that conversation with the beautiful girl - whose name was still a mystery to him. After a careful footstep analysis (editor's note: thank you paper-thin floors), Jesse determined that the girl appeared to be single - or at least there was no obvious man in the picture. This meant Jesse could safely move forward with his plan...
Jesse strategized with some of his closest friends and ultimately told them his plan: Ask to borrow her vacuum cleaner. Tallahassee springs are notorious for heavy pollen and Jesse is terribly allergic to it. What girl could possibly say no to a request to use her vacuum to clean a carpet covered in a substance that was causing such discomfort?
Jesse made the move and he got both things he desired -- the vacuum cleaner, and more importantly the girl's name: Kim. Little did Kim know Jesse didn't really plan to use the vacuum on his apartment carpet, nor did Jesse know the vacuum was actually broken.
That night when Jesse returned the vacuum, he and Kim spent hours talking and getting to know each other. It didn't take long for them to realize how much they shared in common -- from their love of sports to unique senses of humor. And however cliche it may sound, it sure seemed to feel like love at first sight.
A sudden change in Jesse's job situation required him to move away shortly after he and Kim met. Kim remained in Tallahassee to finish her master's degree and Jesse hit the campaign trail for various politicians over the next several years. All along the couple dreamed of a day when they could live in a place together for more than a couple months at a time, which takes us to Washington, DC.
Finally in January 2017, Jesse took a break from the campaign trail and settled on a job in Washington, DC. Six weeks later, Kim found herself a job in Washington, DC and she and Jesse moved all her belongings up from Tallahassee into their new apartment in Arlington, VA.
The dream scenario they discussed many years before became a reality - they now found themselves in the same place for the foreseeable future. This began a new chapter in their relationship that led them to...
...the proposal. The proposal planning began in mid-summer 2018, and after Jesse took several trips to the jeweler -- and sent even more texts to his mother and Kim's sister -- he settled on a ring for his bride-to-be. November 9, 2018 would be the day Jesse would ask Kim to spend the rest of her life with him. Jesse concocted one more story to get Kim to join him on the Speaker's Balcony in the U.S. Capitol Building. On the walk into the Capitol, Kim, always one to get ahead of a surprise, decided this might be the moment Jesse would propose so she patted down all of his pockets to see if he had a ring in any of them.
Luckily Kim was unsuccessful and about 10 minutes later, Jesse was down on one knee asking her to be his wife. And the rest you could say, is history!