Jen & Aaron

One of my parents’ nicknames for me when I was a little kid was “Jenny-tunes.” They gave me this name because I was often singing and dancing along to the music I heard at home. I was one of those ‘90s kids who spent hours making mixtapes from songs on the radio, from old records, or from other tapes and CDs. I’ve always loved music of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. I fell in love with Elvis Presley’s music when I was about 11 years old and still consider myself a fan. I have visited his home, Graceland, twice. I love listening to music, but I also love making music. I am in a local chorus that performs a mix of pops songs, Broadway show tunes, folk songs, and, occasionally, more traditional classical pieces. I’ve been with my current chorus for over 6 years. Before I moved to our current area, I was involved in a more classical chorus near Boston for 7 years. I also sang in my college chorale and high school chorus. I am an amateur dancer, too. I started taking dance lessons when I was 4. I took ballet, jazz, and tap until I got to high school, when I decided to join my high school color guard and started doing musical theater. I took tap dancing again for several years when I was in my 20s and 30s. I have been taking jazz dance again for the past year. Dance gives me a way to express myself artistically and keeps me connected to my younger self. Besides playing music, singing, and dancing, I also enjoy history. I like reading about historic people, places, and events, and visiting historic sites. Growing up in the Boston area I was exposed to a lot of early American history in my own backyard. I even became a tour guide at a couple of historic homes when I was in college. When I’m not pursuing all of these hobbies, I manage a group of editors at a textbook publishing company. I was an editor, myself, for 14 years before I moved into a full-time manager position. My favorite part of my job is helping younger editors figure out what they are interested in and helping them find a way to make that a part of their job. Aaron says: My favorite thing about Jen is that she has a big heart. She always puts others first and strives to make others happy and always do the right thing. She has a wonderful silly side, always trying to make me laugh, and she is constantly singing in a way that brightens up the whole day. She is always my biggest cheerleader. Whenever I’ve had an accomplishment, she has practically taken more pride in it than I have. She brings out the best in me and pushes me to be the best version of myself.

Aaron says: I have deep roots in the DC area: my dad grew up here and has lived here his whole life, and I have also lived here my whole life. My parents, both now retired, live about 20 minutes away in the home I grew up in. We see them at least every few weeks for dinner or a get together at a local event. My sister, who is 4 years younger than I am, moved to the Boston area with her husband and has her family there. We see them frequently since Jen’s family is there as well. Her family includes my 6-year-old niece and 2-year old nephew whom I envision as close cousins with our children. With my dad growing up here, I have cousins in the area who we also visit with and who have their own young children. We’re also close with my mom’s family who live in New Jersey and New England. My family has always made time to see each other, particularly around the holidays. Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Passover, or a special birthday, my mom has always loved to bring us all together over a meal, telling stories, and sharing laughter. Jen says: Most of my family members are in New England, where I grew up. My parents live about 15 minutes away from my hometown and my sister lives about 20 minutes from them. I have just the one sister who is 2 years younger than I am. She was my first playmate and we spent many hours as little girls playing with Barbie dolls and having tea parties for our Cabbage Patch dolls and American Girl dolls. I have many cousins, because of the fact that my mom is one of 5 siblings. Most of them are quite a bit older than I am, so we didn’t grow up playing together. My dad’s sister had a daughter who is 11 months younger than I am so she, my sister, and I grew up playing together at holidays and going to the same amusement park together every summer with our parents. We try to see her and her husband and their two teenagers as often as possible when we visit New England. I also have a best friend who is like family to me and I am her daughter’s godmother.

For most of my professional life, I was a special education teacher for students with emotional disabilities until I recently became an assistant principal. Education has always been important to me, in large part because I love learning. Aside from my day job, I’ve earned four degrees and am probably not finished. I tend to be logical and have a calm presence. I’m patient and thoughtful. I’m hard-working, enjoy a good challenge, and tend to speak my mind. I have a creative side; I like to doodle but occasionally will do something more complicated, like the portrait I did of Jen for our wedding, for example. I also enjoy cooking and trying out new dishes. My creative side brings out my more romantic side. I can be more reserved, but I have deep feelings for the people I love in my life. The reserved part of me can be really thoughtful. I take a lot of joy in the simple things in life: looking at the stars, walking barefoot in the grass, or watching a great sunset. I enjoy technology and figuring out how things work. I like to solve puzzles and anything that challenges my mind such as Sudoku, Wordle, Connections, or a crossword. I like keeping my brain active, or just using a puzzle as a distraction when I need a quick break. In my free time, I’ve done a lot of youth-oriented volunteer work. I’ve always enjoyed working with kids and have found it really rewarding to help kids develop their leadership skills. I find my best work is in helping others help their own communities. Jen says: My favorite thing about Aaron is his dedication to the people around him. When he was a special education teacher he regularly went above and beyond to make sure that his students had what they needed. He bought students lunch many times and he regularly had snacks and water for them in his office. He even bought an alarm clock once to help a kid get to school on time. He brings that same dedication home with him. He lovingly cooks dinner on most nights. He comes to my home office every afternoon when he gets home from school to see how I’m doing. He never misses my chorus concerts. He is always there when I need him, and I know he will be equally dedicated to our child.

We’ve been in our home since 2022. After getting married, we wanted to find a place that truly felt like both of ours and would give us the space to have a family. Our home search was delayed a bit by the pandemic, but it was worth the wait to find the right place for us. Our home has 4 bedrooms and 3-1/2 bathrooms. We have converted one of the bedrooms into a home office. We’ve already decided that the smaller bedroom at the back of the house will be the baby’s room because it is a good size for a baby and is closest to our bedroom. The fourth bedroom is currently set up as a guest room, but we imagine it could become another child’s bedroom if we have two children. One of Jen’s favorite spots in our home is in the kitchen. On most weekend mornings, you’ll find her sipping her tea at the breakfast table, often accompanied by our cat, Rory. We both enjoy our family room, which is right next to the kitchen. It is a spacious room with lots of light. We have a finished basement that currently houses a treadmill and a futon. We imagine making the basement into a fun kids hangout room with a TV and games in the future. Our home is in a neighborhood that is close to everything we need but also quiet and private. We’re within walking distance of a park and a trail that allows us to walk to a nearby lake. We’re fortunate to live in a good school district that is known for its high-quality education and diverse population. The elementary school where we will send our children is a short drive from our house and is located in a quiet residential area with a playground and park next to the school grounds.

Rory is our sweet, 13-year-old cat. Jen adopted her 10 years ago when Rory was 3. Rory made the move from Boston to the Washington, DC area with Jen 7 years ago and made her way into Aaron’s heart after Jen and Aaron got together. Rory is our first “baby.” She sleeps with us every night and sits on our laps whenever we’re hanging out in the family room. At only 7-1/2 pounds, she’s a petite kitty, but she has a lot of love to share! She is still a kitten at heart. She chases her toy mice all over the house, attacks catnip sacks enthusiastically, and has no trouble running from one end of the house to the other. We realize that Rory will no longer be the center of attention once we have a baby, but we will make sure she always knows that she is loved and is very special to us.

We both cherish time-honored traditions. We brought some traditions into our relationship from our original families, and we have also created some of our own. One of our favorite traditions is going to a Christmas light display and at the historic village where we got married. We make a point of going there every year. Because Jen grew up Catholic and Aaron grew up Jewish, we spend every Christmas with Jen’s family in New England and observe their Christmas traditions. (Jen can’t wait to add a stocking to the mantel at her parents’ house!) We spend at least one night of Hanukkah with Aaron’s parents every year, and we also observe the Jewish High Holidays and Passover with them. Thanksgiving is Aaron’s favorite holiday because we can have both sides of the family come together each year in one big celebration. One tradition we would like to start when we have children is to visit a local museum or cultural site every month to expose them to the arts, history, science, and culture from a young age.

We have been on many adventures together over the course of our relationship, and look forward to having many more! One of our annual adventures is the over 400-mile drive from our home to Jen’s parents’ house for Christmas. We have a routine at this point and share the driving duties. Other than trips to New England to visit family, we have been quite a few other places together. Our first major trip together was to Ireland with Jen’s choral group (as mentioned in Our Story). Our second major trip was our honeymoon to Disneyland in California and then to the big island of Hawaii. Jen had been to Disneyland and Disney World multiple times, but Aaron hadn’t been since he was a kid. He was quickly won over to the magic of Disney as we walked around the parks in our bride and groom ears and the cast members made sure we felt special. We also loved Hawaii; neither of us had ever been there and we loved the climate on the island and the tropical scenery. We didn’t travel during the pandemic but then visited Norfolk, Virginia in 2022 and Tampa and Orlando, Florida in 2023 for our anniversaries. In the summer of 2023 we visited London, Florence, and Rome. Then in 2024 we got to go to Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg. Once our children are older, we plan to bring them to as many places as we can, to expose them to different people and cultures and, hopefully, get them excited to travel more. There are still many places where we want to go, including the Pacific Northwest and more Hawaiian islands in the U.S., plus Norway, Sweden, and Japan. We also want to return to Ireland someday to see more of the countryside and show our children where we were engaged. There will also be many trips to Disney World if Jen has anything to say about it!