Our story begins in the Tenth month of Two Thousand Twenty. The wedding bells were ringing but not for us. The marriage of Teri Lee and Houston, began our path. Laurel, being the Maid of Honor, and Jordan being Best Man, met that day for the very first time. We did not know what our future would be at that time, only passing friendly glances and smiles…

Six months later, in April of Two Thousand and Twenty One, we had another fateful rendezvous. Laurel has returned from one of her biological endeavors and Teri Lee has planned an adventure for us; little did we know what she was scheming. One afternoon in this sunny weekend, the four of us went on a small adventure into the forest on the Borders family farm, Laurel taught us about mushrooms and the chirping birds formed an orchestra to complement her opus of knowledge. Teri Lee watched on as we bonded with trepid excitement, clutching Houston’s hand and giggling softly. The next day we all made the journey to Mammoth Cave National Park, the longest cave in the world, and spent the afternoon there exploring. Though we did not explore the cave in its entirety, we made some life changing memories wandering the dark and damp depths of the beautiful Kentucky cavern.

Starting a new job in Indiana, in August of Two Thousand and Twenty Two, Laurel stops for brunch and elevensies with Teri Lee and Houston. Teri Lee, with her continued and vibrant scheming, asked if Jordan could join them for the delightful occasion. Laurel said yes and we enjoyed each other’s company, laughing and telling stories. Teri Lee’s plan has finally begun to come together, as we exchanged phone numbers. For now it was time for Laurel to go on to the land of Indiana, but this time, with a new acquaintance….

As the leaves turned and fell from the trees, we grew ever closer to this very moment, mostly sharing pictures of what we had been doing at our jobs.. Jordan had been working the night shift for a while and Laurel had switched to a semi nocturnal shift for her job as well, at least for a few months. He was excited to have someone to commiserate about the nighttime shift while she ran around pulling quail from traps until the wee hours of the morning. Teri Lee (having found out we shared numbers) spent the last few months on and off suggesting and teasing that Laurel should give Jordan a chance and go on date with him, her toils began to flower. She believed we would click together well with our common interests and personalities. Laurel hadn’t had an interest in dating since college. She was too busy and moved too much and didn’t want to drag someone through the stress of what she’d been doing the last five years. Eventually Laurel bends to the unending will of Teri Lee’s plan.Teri Lee wanted Laurel to come visit and go to dinner at this fancy restaurant saying Jordan could be Laurel’s date. Laurel firmly stated "No, you two can go on a date, Jordan and I can join not on a date.” We jokingly called it a ‘date not date’. Laurel was adamant Jordan and her were not going on a date together, after all, she didn’t want to lead him on…

Over the next couple of months, work slowed down forn Laurel and her weekend perfectly coincided with Jordan’s, so she would make the drive down every weekend to visit everyone. We went on our first camping trip together with Teri Lee and Cory; setting up hammocks in the woods behind Cory’s house. We continue to grow closer, eventually going to meet Laurel’s parents in Tennessee.

In the Third Month of Two Thousand Twenty Three Laurel started trapping season again, working every night and lamented that we did not get to spend the month with each other. This is where video games start to become our mode of communication. Jordan had just started a new game that was also available on the computer and easy enough to play. We spent many evenings playing this game together, knowing it meant a lot to him that we got to talk but also do one of his favorite things together. It definitely helped us get through the month.

In the summer of Two Thousand Twenty Three Laurel spent most of her time helping her mom and dad prepare for her mom’s Daylily Convention that summer, but was still able to spend many weekends with Jordan enjoying many of their new found interests together. .

In the Fall of Two Thousand Twenty Three, and on into the winter, Laurel started a job with Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and was able to dedicate more time to Jordan, adding many more adventures to our story. We went camping several more times behind Cory’s place and took a trip down to the Sipsey Wilderness Area in Bankhead National Forest. This was Laurel’s first overnight backpacking trip, Jordan having been several times already. We celebrated our one year anniversary together under the canopy of the forest, and really began seriously talking about marriage. Laurel continued working for KDFWR, spending most of her time in eastern Kentucky working on prescribed burns. Jordan was able to get off of night shift and back onto days which greatly improved his life and our time together. Shortly after, he started a new job closer to home.

In May of Two Thousand Twenty Four we had solar storms lighting up the night sky across America. We decided to get away from the town lights and head out to Teri Lee and Houston's house to watch the sky. We grabbed a bunch of pillows and blankets so we could lay in the bed of his truck to watch the sky. We laid out there for a few hours hanging out and watching the red haze dance subtlety across the sky. Laurel asked several times if Jordan was ready to go but he put her off saying he was waiting for something to happen. She thought he was waiting for the sky to light up again since the auroras had been pretty subtle so far. Eventually it got late and we decided to head home. As we’re picking up the blankets and pillows Jordan says “hey look at this rock I found in the bed of the truck.” Laurel, greatly confused asks where he found said rock, since she had cleaned out the bed of the truck earlier. He insists that she look at it, handing it to her and shining his flashlight light on it. It’s this smooth round rock with the words “Will you?” scrawled on it. Laurel, still confused at this point, studies the rock intently trying to figure out its meaning, the light shifts and she finally sees a yellow circle drawn above it with a little rhinestone glued to the top of the circle. It finally clicks, he was asking her to marry him! Laurel whipped her head around to kiss Jordan. He laughed and asked if that was a yes. She gleefully replied “Absolutely!”