So once upon a time (about 3 years ago) Nathan was at an intern at Sprint and he met Mark & Suyapa Irwin as he had just met Leah Irwin (Bayne) who also was an intern.   In the mean time back at UMR my friend David Bledsoe had moved in with me and let me know our friend Leah Irwin was coming down to Rolla. During this time my friend Matt met Leah through the BSU and they fell in love and got engaged to be married January 6th, 2007.

When it came time for Matt & Leah's wedding I was asked to be a groomsman and Jennifer of course was Leah's Maid of Honor!  So on Friday January 5th I went to the Wedding rehearsal at Loch Loyd, expecting nothing other than a good time with friends. After unloading some wedding stuff I went upstairs at the front lobby where I saw this beautiful smile and dancing eyes! I correctly assumed this was Jennifer Irwin who all I knew about her was that she was Leah's sister (cause she looked just like her mother Suyapa!!). From that moment she captured me and I knew that I had to get to know this young woman better! I kept my eye on her through out the rehearsal, she was so happy, and had so much personality! At the rehearsal dinner I decided to sit at the same table across from her so I could talk with her.

That night I went to bed and laid there for hours tossing and turning smiling while I thought of Jen. I didn't know what I was going to do at first, but after some thought I knew I had to talk to her parents and tell them how I felt and that I wanted to get to know Jennifer better and ask their permission to do so. Finally after several hours of this I fell asleep exhausted but very excited!

The next day at Matt & Leah's reception I caught up with Mark and got his permission and blessing to pursue Jen, and later that evening I asked Jennifer out and made a date with her!