The first time Steven laid eyes on his future wife was his first day at Webster University. It was 1996 and he nervously stood holding his artwork in the Student Center at the Freshman Art Department Portfolio Review. Joy was introduced to Steven by her dorm-mate, Erica Tuttle, whom was also attending the Portfolio Review as a photography major. (Erica and Joy are still close friends, and she was their wedding photographer in 2004). Upon being introduced to Joy, Steven remembers thinking how genuinely sweet she was - just a pure bundle of cute and positive energy. He was dating someone else at the time, so no sparks were ignited at this time in their lives.

That first year, they had a few classes together including Photo 1, a freshman seminar, and introduction to Psychology. Their friendship grew over the years at Webster through shared friends, the occasional same class and mostly their job at the Photo lab. Joy and Steven both worked at the photography lab as a work study. As college picked up, their schedules became busier and more focused which meant they saw less of one another. Joy focused on her Photography major while Steven split his major between Art and Media Communications. Since Joy lived on campus, and Steven commuted, the only time they would really see each other was when he worked at the lab.

As Joy's major kept her constantly developing, printing, and talking shop with other photo majors, Steven would almost always see her while he worked the lab. He always looked forward to the rare chance to sit and chat about life with Joy as her naturally positive nature made anyone feel great after spending time with her. They were always dating other people but always enjoyed each others friendship very much.

It wasn't until their Senior year at Webster, in 1998 when Steven returned from studying abroad in Vienna, and Joy returned from studying abroad in Leiden that they really took their friendship to the next level. For the very first time in nearly four years, they were both single and as fate had it, they actually worked together in the photo lab all summer long. Steven and Joy quickly realized that they had feelings for one another beyond their understood friendship and began dating in the summer of 1998.