Our Story

Jason and Rachel met when they became coworkers at West Virginia University and slowly became friends. Jason would come to work early in the morning, while Rachel would sleep in and come in at the last minute. Despite that, he would stay way past when he should have “clocked out” just to hang out with her. They watched YouTube videos, talked about music, and learned about each other's lives. They would subsequently walk to their cars to leave, but end up talking in the parking lot for another forty five minutes.

Eventually, Jason got up the nerve to ask Rachel out for dinner. Unbeknownst to him, she had determined to avoid a work relationship at all costs. Her response was, verbatim, “Is it platonic?”, expressing her unwillingness to date coworkers. Didn’t really leave him any wiggle room there…but he graciously agreed anyway. They went to Pies and Pints, which would become their regular spot as time went on. Jason never pressured her or mentioned that pre-dinner conversation again.

Holidays approaching, Rachel wanted to get a cheap end table for a small Christmas tree in their office. She ended up inviting Jason and they went after work. At the local Goodwill, they bought two ugly, old pillows to put in their boss’ office, as he recently shared he found decorative pillows annoying. Oh, they did end up finding—and buying—a table, too. She went on to convince him to put up and decorate his own Christmas tree by offering to help. As they decorated, they turned on kitten videos and laughed the evening away. Later establishing their lack of New Years plans, they agreed to hang out and celebrate it together. Lots of laughs were shared and they ended up a little crunk. Jason kindly offered to sleep on the couch. Rachel tipsily accepted.

Around that same time, Rachel was planning on looking for a house closer to work. When she found a house online–which would end up being “the one”–and had to see it, the search officially began. After work, the two of them would look at contenders and chat. Jason even came along as moral support for a few house tours. He was continually supportive and encouraging to her–particularly when she was afraid to pull the trigger and follow her gut. He was the first person to tour the house with her (sorry mom and dad). She ended up getting the house a few months later, and still greatly attributes it to his support.

A few weeks later, Rachel confessed she had been thinking about a relationship with Jason. Jason excitedly reciprocated, expressing his own feelings. A few weeks later, it became official. The following day, they went on their first “official” date to see one of Jason’s favorite bands, Ratboys. Ratboys remains a mutual favorite to this day. Eventually identifying as “salt” and “pepper”–belonging together–the rest is history.

“Salt and Pepper”

At one point we established that Jason loved black pepper, and didn’t really use salt. On the other hand, Rachel loved salt, but didn’t really use pepper. That concept stuck around, and was proposed as salt and pepper (the two of them) were “meant to be together”. It became emblematic of their relationship and is now lovingly regularly referenced between the two of them.