Tristan and I met in the spring of 2021 at Belhaven University in Jackson, MS. We were both English majors and were taking a Russian Literature class taught by a beloved professor (who happens to be our wedding officiant) when we first met. Tristan’s jokes, passion, and insightful comments in class caught my attention at first, and a few class study sessions later, we became friends. He was the only one in that group that I could look at in the eyes and we both knew what one another was thinking without saying a word. He felt familiar to me without even really knowing him yet & I knew then that he was special. Any chance we got with our busy college schedules the two of us would study in the library until closing and drive around Jackson listening to music and talking about everything under the sun. We shared laughs, stories, and many thought provoking conversations. I realized by the end of that semester that I was falling for him and that a bad day with him would still be better than any good day without him.

A long summer passed and when Tristan and I bumped back into one another at Belhaven in the fall of 2021, he asked me on a date. From that moment on, life has been different in every good way. There was life before Tristan and life after. My days felt brighter and the any time we spent together flew by so quickly. I think that’s partly how I knew he was the one. He was, and is, so easy and fun to be around. He made me feel like the most authentic version of myself, and not just accepted by him wholly, but loved for who I am. Tristan told me he loved me on our third or fourth date that fall. I didnt say it, as I was slightly paralyzed by his profession at the time, but I knew that I was falling in love with him too. Over time we became inseparable and realized quickly as the days and months passed by that life was better together & we loved each other.

A year flew by and Tristan and I left dear old Jackson to be on the coast in the summer of 2022 to be closer to both of our families and to begin our careers in education.

Tristan took me back to Belhaven on a beautiful day winter day that felt more like spring, December 30, 2023, and asked me to marry him at the same spot he told me he loved me the first time two years prior. Elated with joy, I said yes, because being with Tristan feels as natural to me as breathing & loving him is so easy.