I had been working at Carson-Newman since December 2021, with the plans of moving out of Tennessee and broadening my horizons. I many times would look into other positions out of state, but was stopped by a feeling that I needed to wait. I wouldn't know until later on that Jason would be what I was waiting for. (If I have any advice to people it would be trust your intuition!)

Before Jason started in his position I was nervous about how a new staff member would affect our dynamic as the four members in our positions worked very closely with each other (oh the irony) Jason then moved in the office next to mine and I was determined to make friends with him! In our first real interaction with each other I got us lost on some backroads in the Smokies das he was driving the 15 passenger van full of students on our way to retreat. I was apologizing the whole time and thought I blew any chance of being friends with him. Thankfully I was wrong! We bonded over our nerdiness, music, pranking our coworkers, and dealing with all the general weirdness that came with our jobs. One day after Jason had a particularly frustrating interaction with a student, I asked him to go on a walk to help blow off some steam. It was October and their were leaf piles all over campus that I had joked about jumping in all week but didn't because I didn't want to mess up my outfit. As we were talking I interrupted him and went "Hold on a minute" and sprinted and jumped in a pile of leaves to make him laugh. It worked, and I had my "oh crap" moment of realizing how much I really like him. I tried ignoring my feelings for a long time because I didn't want to lose my friend. Being friends with him was enough because that meant I was in his life, and I wasn't sure if he felt the same. (I later found out that it was obvious to literally EVERYONE but us how we felt about each other) In March, he finally got the courage to ask me out and I felt so excited an relieved!

Since then we've gotten to go on many adventures and experience the mundane together. As someone who highly enjoys (or enjoyed), being alone I didn't marriage as something that was in the cards for me. I am living proof that when you are with the right person it changes everything for the better. I was genuinely happy before I met him, but I never knew how much happier I could be then when we stated dating. Meeting Jason was like discovering your favorite ice cream. It goes from something you are completely unfamiliar with and maybe skeptical of at first, to something so wonderful that you wonder how you lived without it all this time. I am so excited to marry him, and to share this experience with my loved ones!

Our story starts with me taking a job as a Residence Director at Carson Newman University. I moved to experience something new and to grow as a person. I never imagined how much of that would come true because of Morgan. I ended up working an office over from the love of my life and didn't even know it. Our first real experience together was traveling to a cabin for a work event and getting lost on back roads while I was driving a 15-passenger van and we had a student blaring Veggietales from the back. However, I remember more the time we spent together on the Island in Pigeon Forge, exploring what we called the "Nerd Store" and just having a wonderful together. I was excited to make a new friend with all the changes going on in my life with a new job, and a new apartment (plus a troublemaker named Argo on the way). This friendship led to countless hours of me walking into her office to talk about work and life, the laughs around the lunch table, and various pranks on co-workers and each other. After one rough day at work, we went on a walk and Morgan went out of her way to make me laugh by jumping into a pile of leaves. It was a small moment but meant the world to me and made me realize that she meant the world to me. This led to months of trying to figure out my feelings and trying to figure out if she felt the same. For me, it came to a head during a work conference in Richmond, VA (Virginia is for Lovers is right); We spent hours walking around the city, talking about life and what we see our futures leading to. It was then I realized that the future I wanted was with Morgan. The day we got back from the conference, I asked Morgan over to watch a movie, Sharknado if I remember correctly, then we watched another (a Nick Cage film, then another (Megan), and then finally during the Muppets of all things, I expressed my feelings to Morgan. It was such a nerve-racking moment for me because I didn't want to lose my best friend but I was overjoyed to find out she felt the same. This led to many fun adventures such as the zoo, various festivals, and so many concerts. It was our first concert experience where we got to see the Bleachers which led to many of the songs we plan to dance to at our wedding. Another highlight was seeing her in that red dress (red dress!) during the Jonas Brothers concert. Through it all, I continued to fall more and more in love with my best friend.

Another story I like to share is how clear it was to co-workers and friends that we liked each other. After we started dating, I went to Emily, our boss, to inform her of our relationship. She had been having a bad day due to our software wasn't working and I remember the conversation clearly. I told her I had something to tell her. Emily said please no more bad news, and I said I don't think this is bad news and said that me and Morgan had started dating. She then jumped up and said YES, I am so happy! She then promptly ran to Morgan's office to congratulate us. She then said "Jason, I'm happy for you and Morgan, I am happy for you but I'm more happy for me! She had been waiting months for us to get together because it was clear to her and everyone (besides ourselves!) that we were into one another.

Morgan has made me so happy ever since I have met her and I am excited to spend the rest of our lives together as Husband and Wife and to share this special moment with friends and family