Joanna

Joanna was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Though an avid Buckeye fan, she decided to attend college at Denison University. She graduated in 2009 with a B.S. in Mathematics and a minor in Spanish. Since then, she has been enjoying her career in computer programming. Having grown up running cross-country and playing soccer, Joanna still runs in her free time and plays soccer almost year-round on a recreational team in Maryland.

Tyler

Tyler was born in Orlando, Florida, where he lived for 9 years. After a short move to Appalachian Country in Pennsylvania, his family moved to Youngstown, Ohio, where Tyler did most of his growing up. Tyler attended Youngstown State University and graduated in 2009 with a B.S. in Mathematics and a minor in Electrical Engineering. Always having an interest in computers and technology, Tyler continues to expand his horizons both through hobbies and graduate work toward a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation at the University of Maryland.

As a Couple

We try to live each day to the fullest; we see life as an adventure and the world as an opportunity to experience art in every sense. On the weekends, we love trying new flavorful food and drink creations at DC's myriad restaurants. During the week, we create new recipes together at home. We enjoy running, dancing, traveling, and exploring the numerous musical, theatrical, and cultural events DC offers. We have tried to incorporate our hobbies and passions into our wedding to illustrate who we are as a couple. We hope you have as much fun at our wedding as we have had planning it!

How We Met

We actually crossed paths a couple times. In spring 2008, we happened to attend the same math conference at Marietta College in eastern Ohio. Joanna presented her research at the conference, and of all the talks offered during that session, Tyler thought Joanna's abstract sounded the most interesting and attended her presentation. He even asked Joanna a question about her work! Joanna unfortunately does not remember Tyler specifically or his question (though Tyler remembers Joanna); she can only recall feeling it was not her best presentation, especially the Q&A portion. After we started dating we recalled this meeting and Joanna was able to answer Tyler's question more confidently.

We "officially" met when we attended the same math internship in Maryland where we lived in the same apartment complex. Over those twelve weeks, we grew from acquaintances to good friends, playing ultimate frisbee; traveling to DC, Baltimore, and Virginia Beach; and, most of all, playing RockBand. At the end of the summer, we returned to Columbus and Youngstown, but continued to stay in touch.

That fall, we decided to take a daytrip with another friend from the summer up to Cedar Point. It was then we individually decided we really liked each other, but we weren't sure how each other felt. A couple weeks later, we decided we would celebrate Halloween together with a correlating costume. As we debated whether to celebrate at Youngstown State or Denison, Joanna suggested Tyler come down to Denison since her sorority was having a dance the next day and he could be her date. Tyler knew right then Joanna truly liked him. On Halloween night, we dressed up as the Red Jaguars from the 1990s Nickelodeon show "Legends of the Hidden Temple."

The following day, we attended the My Tie dance. Tyler taught Joanna a few basic swing dance moves, as well as how to dance the Cleveland Shuffle to Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean." It had always been Joanna's dream to do a coordinated dance in the middle of the dance floor, and when the right songs came on, we "showed off our moves;" everyone immediately formed a circle around us and cheered us on, making Joanna's dream come true. We consider that day, November 1, 2008, to be the day that started it all.